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

Author: Mike Morsch Page 3 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.

Daryl Hall and John Oates: Their hits are still on our list as the best things in life

Daryl Hall and John Oates performed at the Allentown Fairgrounds Sept. 1, 2019, in Allentown, PA.  (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Daryl Hall and John Oates performed at the Allentown Fairgrounds Sept. 1, 2019, in Allentown, PA.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

I’ve long been an advocate of Daryl Hall and John Oates performing a complete album during their live show. It’s not a new concept. Brian Wilson has performed the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” (1966) album for a while now. And the Doobie Brothers have done the complete  “Toulouse Street” (1972) and “The Captain and Me” (1973) albums in concert.

I think it’s cool because the fans get to hear deeper cuts that bands usually don’t perform live. But there is the very real possibility — the Beatles are on the record as saying this — that some album cuts, particularly those albums that were recorded early in the artists’ careers, have never been performed live by the band. There are songs on albums that bands learned just for the album, and would have to relearn them some 40 to 50 years later.

So it’s not necessarily an easy thing for the artists to do, I’m sure. And there’s the consideration — which John Oates has told me more than once in past interviews when I’ve asked him about how the concert setlist is determined — that when fans buy tickets to shows, Hall & Oates feel obligated to perform the hits. And with H&O, there are more than enough hits to fill up a concert.

Still, I’ve always wanted to hear Daryl and John do a full album live, my preferences being “Abandoned Luncheonette” (1973) and “Daryl Hall & John Oates,” also known as the “Silver Album” (1975). Those are my two favorites and the two that I’ve written about most extensively in “The Vinyl Dialogues” series. 

I’m not the only one who likes “Abandoned Luncheonette,” both Daryl and John like it a lot, too.

John Oates rocks a smooth groove during the Allentown performance. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

John Oates rocks a smooth groove during the Allentown performance.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

“It’s a special album. It was a perfect storm of creativity for us,” said Oates in an interview for “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume I.” “It was the right producer [Arif Mardin] in the right studio with the right musicians and the right songs, all at the same time. That seldom happens, but you hope it does. Fortunately for us, it happened on our second album.”

Daryl said that Side One of the album is the “magic” side. It includes one Hall-penned tune, “When the Morning Comes”; three Oates-written songs, “Had I Know You Better Then,” “Las Vegas Turnaround” and “I’m Just a Kid (Don’t Make Me Feel Like A Man)”; and one co-written song, “She’s Gone.”

“She’s Gone,” which is always played by the duo in their live shows, was only moderately successful when it was first released as a single in 1974. But it climbed to No. 7 on the charts when a remixed version was re-released in 1976, after the two had moved to RCA Records and scored a big hit with “Sara Smile.”

“On Side One, there’s not a note on that body of work that isn’t just right,” said Daryl in an interview for TVD1. He won’t go so far to say that “Abandoned Luncheonette” is his favorite Daryl Hall and John Oates album, but he comes close. 

“You can never look into the future, but I was proud of it at the time,” said Daryl. “Would I have known that we’d be talking about it more than 40 years later? No, but I had the feeling that it was going to be around for a while. It was one of my favorite experiences, I’ll say that. I guess I would equate that with a favorite album.”

The Silver Album contained the breakout hit “Sara Smile,” the writing of which Daryl detailed for me in “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume III: Stack of Wax.” Other than that one, none of the other songs on that album have made consistent appearances in the H&O live set, although Oates’ “Camellia” does often show up in his solo shows.

Daryl Hall takes a turn on the keyboards during the performance. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Daryl Hall takes a turn on the keyboards during the performance.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

But as much as I’d love to hear those two albums in their entirety live, I may have to change my tune after the H&O show Sunday night, Sept. 1, at the Allentown Fair in Allentown, PA. That’s because if that show is any indication of what Daryl and John experience night after night at their shows, then John was absolutely correct: the fans buy tickets to their shows to hear them perform the hits.

There were several big crowd reactions throughout the show, but none bigger than when H&O performed “She’s Gone” and “Sara Smile” back-to-back in the middle of the set. Those songs have stood the test of time, and Daryl and John perform them like they’re new songs. There is as much soulfulness in “She’s Gone,” and as much emotion from Daryl in “Sara Smile,” as there was when those songs were recorded. And the audience erupted for both of the tunes, as well as for the other hits.

Consider just the encore songs at this show: “Rich Girl,” “Kiss on My List,” “Private Eyes” — all No. 1 hits — and “You Make My Dreams,” a No. 5 chart single, brought the crowd to its feet and collectively kept it there for the entire encore. 

Daryl and John know their audiences. And they give them what they want, which is the hits, occasionally sprinkling in songs like “Is It a Star,” from the “War Babies” (1974) album, which appeared in the Allentown set.

We’re lucky that Daryl and John are still out there performing those hits for us. If they’re in your town — or anywhere near your town — go see them. They’re both still in great voice and their band has been top notch for many years now. 

You can still go for that. I know I can.

Daryl Hall and John Oates, with their stellar band, kept the crowd on its feet with hit after hit. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Daryl Hall and John Oates, with their stellar band, kept the crowd on its feet with hit after hit.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Mutlu’s new album ‘Good Trouble’ a thought-provoking smooth groove

Philadelphia singer-songwriter Mutlu tackles some thought-provoking topics in his new album "Good Trouble."

Philadelphia singer-songwriter Mutlu tackles some thought-provoking topics in his new album “Good Trouble.”

Mutlu is getting into a little good trouble.

The Philadelphia singer-songwriter — who has written, recorded and opened for the likes of Philly icons Daryl Hall and John Oates as well as Amos Lee — can lay claim with his silk-like vocals to being part of the next generation of The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP).

But his latest album is a little different. Titled “Good Trouble,” it’s got an edge. And that’s exactly how he wanted it. The title of the album was inspired by a term used by Georgia Congressman and civil right icon John Lewis, who uses it in the context of facing confrontation and pushback for his views. 

Sure, its got the usual smooth groove and natural storytelling that has come to define Mutlu’s music. But “Good Trouble” takes it to a different level, tackling thought-provoking topics like societal change, inequality, depression and hardship. 

“My previous records were a more subtle stream of consciousness, where I maybe had a bit of commentary. But it was more veiled and poetic,” said Mutlu in a recent interview. “This is the first time that I’ve purposely been overtly political on a few songs. It’s one thing to go rant online, but I’m still a musician at the end of the day. How can I channel that into the next record?”

The result is that “Good Trouble” ends up being a cross-section of the personal and political, and features a trilogy of songs that tackle the difficulties that many people face in their everyday life.

They include the first three tracks of the album: “Lifeline,” which represents the more hopeful side of things; “Not Escapable,” that describes the exhaustion, frustration, anger and hopelessness that can overwhelm some people; and “95 to 5,” which addresses the wealth gap that seems to be getting worse.

"Good Trouble" is available now. Go to www.mutlusounds.com for details.

“Good Trouble” is available now. Go to www.mutlusounds.com for details.

Also different this time is the way Mutlu approached the making of “Good Trouble.” Once again teaming up with co-producer and co-writer on some of the songs Darius Amendolia, the two decided to to take some time with the preproduction aspects and development of the album’s arc.

“Before we even started recording, I felt like I knew we were doing what we wanted to do because we had such a road map of the songs,” said Mutlu. “With some of my previous EPs, we sort of hadn’t done as much pre-production. This time, it was just a matter of going into the studio and executing it. I don’t think I’ve ever literally thought of the arc of an album song by song from start to finish. I don’t think I was ever as deliberate in mapping out the arc beforehand. And once I stepped back and listened to what we had, I said yeah, this is the kind of thing I wanted to express.”

The album isn’t without it’s Philly soul vibe. The song “Nothing in This Whole Wide World,” is a collaboration with John Oates and channels what was being done by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff  at Philadelphia International Records in the infancy of TSOP in the 1970s, when artists like The O’Jays, The Stylistics, The Three Degree and Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes were establishing that Philly sound.

Oates co-produced track with Hall & Oates guitarist Shane Theriot and it includes H&O band members Brian Dunne on drums and Klyde Jones on bass.

“Working with Daryl and John over the years has been a dream come true,” said Mutlu. “Getting to be on Daryl’s show (“Live From Daryl’s House”) and getting to sing with John at his shows and on tour with Hall & Oates, there were a number of times when John and I would talk about writing something together.”

Even though “Nothing in This Whole Wide World” was recorded and released a couple of years ago, it fit into the arc of the “Good Trouble” album. 

“That song wasn’t written with the other songs (for the “Good Trouble” album), but it was also deliberate,” said Mutlu. “We were channeling this Spinners thing, that hybrid of grit and smoothness. We sat down and in a couple of hours, that song just came together. It was so much fun sitting with John and a couple of guitars. It was effortless.”

Admittedly, Mutlu takes seriously his role as the next generation of TSOP.

“I do feel that’s a responsibility, to push that sound, that vibe, that emotion — and everything that goes into that,” he said. “I do worry sometimes, do the younger people really know this music? Do they know about The Stylistics, The Three Degrees, The O’Jays, the list goes on and on. Do they really know that catalog? I think it’s important to keep the visibility of that sound and that music out there. It’s a huge part of American pop music history.” 

Mutlu is currently on tour in support of “Good Trouble.” He already made stops in Knoxville, TN; Durham, NC; Decatur, GA; and New York City. The tour continues stops at the Club Passim in Cambridge, MA, on Aug. 29; The Soundry in Columbia, MD, Aug. 30; Daryl’s House in Pawlings, NY, Sept. 8; World Cafe Live in Philadelphia Sept. 13; and Paradiso in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 29. And on Sept. 26, he’ll open for Hall & Oates at the Verizon Arena in Little Rock, AR. For more information go to www.mutlusounds.com.

“The reaction has been great,” said Mutlu. “That’s the most rewarding part, to put the music out and then go and play and get the feedback from the people and see that they’re connecting with the music.”

‘Stairway to Heaven’ is nowhere near the greatest makeout song ever

Peter Beckett of Player, center, rocks out to "Rock and Roll" by Led Zeppelin, during the encore with Elliot Lurie, left, and John Ford Coley, right, at the Yacht Rock 2019 show Aug. 23 at the Borgata in Atlantic City.  (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Peter Beckett of Player, center, rocks out to “Rock and Roll” by Led Zeppelin, during the encore with Elliot Lurie, left, and John Ford Coley, right, at the Yacht Rock 2019 show Aug. 23 at the Borgata in Atlantic City.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

I do not like the music of Led Zeppelin. I never have. 

It all goes back to when I was a teenager in the 1970s. I had a girlfriend who liked to make out to Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” I was 16 years old, just starting to car date, and was dealing with raging hormones that many of us were experiencing at that age. I liked making out with her. I just didn’t like making out to “Stairway to Heaven.”

I had no interest in Zeppelin’s music then, and that’s the way it is now, some 40-plus years later. Sure, I know a couple of their tunes, and can probably sing a couple of verses to some of their songs. But I do not have any Zeppelin in my vinyl or CD collections and don’t plan on adding any.

But the discussion over whether “Stairway to Heaven” is the “greatest makeout song ever” still follows me today. It just so happens that The Blonde Accountant considers it at the top of the list of makeout songs.

“How can you not like making out to a long song like ‘Stairway to Heaven?’” she will say to me. “It’s the greatest makeout song ever.”

Elliot Luris of Looking Glass, the writer and lead singer of the iconic hit "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)." (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Elliot Luris of Looking Glass, the writer and lead singer of the iconic hit “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl).”
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

I may be old, but I’m not dead. I still like making out. But “Stairway to Heaven” is not the greatest makeout song ever. It is, however, the greatest impotence-inducing song ever.

Oddly enough, it is in this context that we attended the Yacht Rock 2019 show at the Borgata in Atlantic City Aug. 23. The show featured Walter Egan (“Magnet and Steel”); Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass (“Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl”); John Ford Coley of England Dan and John Ford Coley; Peter Beckett of Player (“Baby Come Back”); and Ambrosia, which backed all the other artists that evening, in addition to performing their greatest hits.

I can say without question that there are at least three songs from the artists in that group that are better makeout songs than “Stairway to Heaven”: the aforementioned “Baby Come Back” by Player; “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight” by England Dan and John Ford Coley; and “How Much I Feel” by Ambrosia. 

In fact, I can make the case that this group of artists has even more songs that are better makeout songs than “Stairway to Heaven.” Walter Egan wrote “Magnet and Steel” because of his infatuation with Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks. Ambrosia’s “You’re the Only Woman (You and I)” and Player’s “This Time I’m in it For Love” fall into that category. I’d put “Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne” and “Nights Are Forever Without You” by England Dan and John Ford Coley on the list of songs I’d make out to before “Stairway to Heaven.”

John Ford Coley, of England Dan and John Ford Coley. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

John Ford Coley, of England Dan and John Ford Coley.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

And we heard all of those songs Saturday night. If I was ever going to be in the mood to make out, it would have been after that setlist.

Now there is another aspect of this story that ties it all together. Within the past year, I have taken to rushing the stage at some concerts. To clarify, I don’t actually “rush” the stage at this age. I kind of limp and stumble my way down to the front of the stage. I had never gone down to the stage for all these years, content to stand at my seat for encores. But I’ve had some seats recently that have allowed me easy access to the stage and I have taken advantage of that. It gets you up close and personal with the artists and I can shake a little booty more freely without being boxed in by my row. Plus it makes for some great photo opportunities, which I can use in the next volume of The Vinyl Dialogues. 

Because our seats were in the sixth row for the Yacht Rock show, I had to only get past two people to the aisle, where I could step-and-a-half it the 25 or so feet to the stage. Which is exactly what I did.

Walter Egan, who wrote the hit single "Magnet and Steel," that was inspired by Stevie Nicks. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Walter Egan, who wrote the hit single “Magnet and Steel,” that was inspired by Stevie Nicks.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

“C’mon, let’s rush the stage,” I said to TBA. She declined to join me. 

For the final song of the evening, all the artists reappeared together to perform . . . “Rock and Roll.” By Led Zeppelin. To close a yacht rock show. Go figure.

Certainly I had heard the song and was familiar with it. I just didn’t know the name of the song or that it was a Zeppelin tune. Still, I rocked out with the rest of stage rushers. 

“I just want you to know that you rushed the stage for a Led Zeppelin song,” said TBA after the show, as I hummed the song all the way back to the parking garage.

I know, I know. The irony was not lost on me. But it didn’t change the fact that “Stairway to Heaven” is nowhere near close to being the “greatest makeout song ever.”

Ambrosia, featuring original bassist Joe Puerta, right. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Ambrosia, featuring original bassist Joe Puerta, right.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

And then along comes The Association again to transport us back to our youth

The Association, with members, from left to right, Jules Alexander, Jim Yester and Del Ramos, took the audience on a historical tour of our youth July 26 at the Sellersville 1894 in Sellersville, Pa. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

The Association, with members, from left to right, Jules Alexander, Jim Yester and Del Ramos, took the audience on a historical tour of our youth July 26 at the Sellersville 1894 in Sellersville, Pa.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

When I was a kid, my parents had an album collection, and one of the albums I absolutely wore out was “Insight Out” by The Association. It includes two of the band’s biggest hits, “Windy” and “Never My Love,” both still among my favorite songs of all-time

The Association — which includes original members Jim Yester and Jules Alexander — appeared July 26 at the Sellersville Theatre 1894, and the show took me back to when I was 8 years old, spinning vinyl at my parents house in central Illinois.

I was fortunate to interview Yester for a chapter in “The Vinyl Dialogues Volume IV: From Studio to Stylus” on the making of “Insight Out.” It was a thrill for me to hear Yester’s recollections of the making of that album. What follows is the story of that album, as told by Yester.

Ruthann Friedman was kind of like a den mother for Jules Alexander, Russ Giguere, Ted Bluecher Jr. and Jim Yester.

The four artists, members of the band The Association, lived together in a house in Hollywood. Friedman was a friend who had been introduced to the guys by Van Dyke Parks, a lyricist who in early 1966 had collaborated with Brian Wilson for the Beach Boys’ “Smile” project.

The Association's 1967 album "Insight Out" included the hits singles "Windy" and "Never My Love." (Photo by Mike Morsch)

The Association’s 1967 album “Insight Out” included the hits singles “Windy” and “Never My Love.”
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Friedman wrote what some of The Association members thought were real outside-the-box songs. There was one stretch in the mid-1960s when she slept on the couch at the Hollywood house of The Association members for several weeks while trying to find a place to live.

The search for a place to call her own led Friedman from Hollywood up the California coast to San Francisco, where she bunked for a time at the home of David Crosby, then a member of the Byrds, all the while continuing to write songs.

Tom Shipley was a songwriter who had sold a couple of songs to A&M Records and the record company thought he had potential. So they put Shipley together with Friedman and Tandyn Almer and called them The Garden Club. Almer had written the single “Along Comes Mary,” which The Association had put on its 1966 debut album “And Then . . . Along Comes the Association.” The song was a hit that reached No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.

Friedman and Shipley continued to write songs once Friedman had moved into Crosby’s basement. One evening, Friedman asked Shipley to come over. She was working on a song and wanted him to help her finish it.

But Shipley was also writing songs with another songwriter, Michael Brewer, and they were working on one that evening called “She Thinks She’s a Woman.”

“And I said, ‘Ruthann, I’ll tell you what, I’ll make it tomorrow night,” Shipley recalled telling Friedman. “So she finished the song by herself that night.”

Shipley eventually helped Friedman cut the demo for the song. When Friedman returned to Hollywood several weeks later, she again approached The Association, this time with a completed song and demo in hand for the band’s consideration.

“She came back from San Fransisco and said, ‘When I was out there, I wrote this kind of contemporary song. But I don’t know if it’s too folky for you guys,’” recalled Jim Yester, rhythm guitarist and vocalist for The Association. “She sat down on the kitchen floor with her guitar and played us the song. We thought, oh, that’s kind of neat.”

The song was “Windy.”

Jim Yester is an original member of The Association. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Jim Yester is an original member of The Association.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

In just five months in 1966, from July to November, The Association had released its first two albums, “And Then . . . Along Comes The Association” and “Renaissance” for Valiant Records. The first album featured two hit singles, “Along Comes Mary,” and “Cherish,” which was the band’s first No. 1 song on the Hot 100 Singles chart.

The band had already started working on some songs for its next album, which would be called “Insight Out,” most notably “Never My Love” and “Requiem for the Masses,” when Valiant went out of business and was absorbed by its distributor, Warner Brothers. The band’s first album was produced by Curt Boettcher and the second album was produced by Jim Yester’s brother, Jerry Yester, who had handled the production of the first two songs.

The switch to Warner Brothers coincided with The Association’s desire to elevate the band from the local and regional music scene to the national level. Bones Howe, a well-known recording engineer at the time who had recorded “California Dreamin’” and “Monday, Monday” for The Mamas and The Papas, was chosen to produce The Association’s “Insight Out” album and Jerry Yester was out.

When The Association heard Friedman’s “Windy,” they wanted Howe to hear it.

“So we had Ruth play it for Bones and he said, ‘I got an idea for that.’ Bones had an idea that if we stuck to the folk idiom, with a driving rock background — kind of the way that ‘Windy’ is — that we would have that tag forever,” said Jim Yester.

Another part of the Warner deal for “Insight Out” was that in addition to having Howe produce, he was also going to use the best studio musicians in Los Angeles, known as The Wrecking Crew, which had just completed recording Pet Sounds for Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. 

According to Jim Yester, the band had finished a recording that included the vocals for “Windy” around 4 a.m., just ahead of an 8 a.m. scheduled flight out of Los Angeles to Birmingham, Alabama, for a gig there.

Right in the middle of all this, Jules Alexander had decided to leave the band. He wasn’t in on the recording session for “Windy,” but he was honoring some of the concert commitments the band had already made, so he was on the plane to Birmingham, along with a tape of the “Windy” recording session.

“Once we got to the auditorium in Birmingham, we put that tape on the sound system and played it and we all went totally bananas,” said Yester. “We were dancing around the auditorium and we thought, man, that is a smash. And it was. It went up the charts so fast it made our heads spin.

“We had no idea at the time who The Wrecking Crew was, even though on our first album, a lot of the early Wrecking Crew guys were involved [guitarist Mike Deasy, bassist Jerry Scheff and percussionists Jim Troxel and Toxey French],” said Yester. “They turned out to be fantastic. They were such incredible guys, not only monster musicians, but just the neatest guys. Any ideas that you had, they immediately snapped right on them.”

In between concert gigs, The Association continued to record the songs for “Insight Out.” But now it was faced with trying to find a replacement for Alexander. 

The band interviewed Michael Brewer, whom they knew from Los Angeles, but didn’t hire him.

“Terry Kirkman was a friend of mine and he used to come by all the time,” said Brewer. “He would say, ‘Would you like to join The Association?’ This was about the time Tom [Shipley] and I were really writing songs and going into the studio and enjoying our songs. I thought I could join a group with a bunch of guys and once in a while maybe get to do a song of mine. Or I could have a partner and we could do all of our own songs. And I have absolutely no regrets. I made the right choice.”

Brewer and Shipley would go on a few years later to form a duo and record the hit single “One Toke Over the Line.”

But The Association was still seeking a replacement for Alexander.

During one of the group’s recording sessions for “Insight Out Larry Ramos, a one-time member of the New Christy Minstrels who had embarked on a solo career, was recording with a friend the same day in an adjacent studio. 

Kirkman, who played wind instruments and provided vocals for The Association and had written “Cherish” for the band, approached Ramos and asked him to join the group.

Ramos said yes.

“When I joined the group, I noticed that the guys were very careful about the music that they selected,” said Ramos. “They had done two albums and they had two hits. From hundreds and hundreds of pieces of music that were submitted to us — and we also wrote our own music — we didn’t care about where the music came from as long as it was good. If we were fortunate to have written the music and it was good enough, then more power to the guys who wrote it.”

“Never My Love” was one of the songs that the band had selected to record before Ramos joined the group. The Addrisi Brothers — Don and Dick — had written the song, and it was one that the brothers had played for The Association at the Hollywood house.

“It’s a classic. I love that song and I loved it the first time I ever heard it,” said Ramos. “There are certain things that you look for in a piece of music when you record it — the memorable melodies, the memorable lyrics, that has a lot to do with it. And the production of the recording itself. You have to have all of those elements together to have a successful record. And we were very, very fortunate that we had all of these happening to us not just once, not just twice, not just three times, but several times. It surprised many of the guys in the group that we were fortunate to have all these hits.”

Touring between recording sessions for “Insight Out” still presented a challenge for the band, even after Ramos joined. Alexander was still committed to the touring schedule, although not the recording sessions. So Ramos initially went on tour with the band, but just to watch. 

Jordan Cole, son of The Association's drummer Brian Cole, is currently part of the band's touring group. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Jordan Cole, son of The Association’s drummer Brian Cole, is currently part of the band’s touring group.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

There was an incident on the road, though, that forced Ramos into the touring band. One afternoon before a concert, the guys were driving around and bassist Brian Cole (Cole’s son Jordan is a member of the The Association’s current touring lineup) was throwing firecrackers out the car window. But Cole hung on to one of the firecrackers too long and it blew up in his hand. That meant he couldn’t play bass for that evening’s show.

“So that night, we said, ‘OK Larry, here is your baptism by fire.’ Jules went to bass and Larry went to lead guitar,” said Yester.

Ramos was now a full-fledged member of the studio group recording “Insight Out” and the touring band.

In addition to The Wrecking Crew, the “Insight Out” recording sessions also included the band working with vocal arranger Clark Burroughs, who was a tenor for a group called the Hi-Lo’s.

“Clark did phenomenal work. We would have three mikes in a semi-circle and he would sit on the inside of the semi-circle on a stool and direct us. He had headphones on so he could hear everything. And he’d move guys back and move guys up, have guys sing louder. It was just fantastic,” said Yester.

“The arrangement that you hear on the record, the vocal harmonies are really kind of suppressed. Bones liked to mix it where you get the feel of the background voices but you couldn’t really hear the actual parts, except in the places where it was a third and a fifth. We would sing the harmonies and then we’d add parts. It was just incredible-sounding,” he said.

Released ahead of the album, the single “Windy” would become the band’s next No. 1 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. The follow-up single, “Never My Love,” also released in advance of the album and recorded before “Windy,” reached No. 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles.

More than 50 years later, The Association performed both of those songs in Sellersville, PA, on July 26. Larry Ramos died in 2014. His brother, Del Ramos, has been with the band since 1972, and he still performs with the touring band. 

And for a couple of hours, I was 8 years old again.

A signed photo of Jim Yester and Jules Alexander, original members of The Association. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

A signed photo of Jim Yester and Jules Alexander, original members of The Association.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Stories from the front row with Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul

Stevie Van Zandt, a member of Bruce Springsteen's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group the E Street Band, brought his Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul show to the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA, Saturday, July 20. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Stevie Van Zandt, a member of Bruce Springsteen’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group the E Street Band, brought his Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul show to the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA, Saturday, July 20.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

If you’ve got a favorite band who you’d like to see live, do yourself a favor and spend the money to sit in the front row. And if Stevie Van Zandt sticks a microphone in your face, make sure you know the words to the song he wants you to help sing.

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul were at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA, Saturday, July 20. I had been carrying around a gift card from Christmas and was looking for the right concert on which to spend it. And I wanted to see Little Steven.

Front row tickets aren’t always affordable, but for this show, they were. Only $81.50, which is a bargain for a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. It seemed like the perfect way to treat myself with the gift card that was suddenly burning a hole in my wallet. I could hear my wallet screaming at me: “It’s Little Steven, you idiot! Jersey Shore sound. E Street Band. It’s a no-brainer!” 

Yes it was. Means, motive, opportunity. Front row, baby.

Sitting that close provides the chance to interact a bit with the artist, and I got my opportunity late in the show during an audience participation song. 

Stevie walked right up to me at the edge of the stage and stuck the mic out. Now, I had just perfectly executed a singalong at a bar in Sea Isle, N.J., the week before when the artist held the mic out to me to sing the chorus of “Build Me Up Buttercup,” the hit single from The Foundations in 1968.

But when Stevie looked down and pointed the microphone at me, we weren’t singing “Build Me Up Buttercup.” I know the words to that song. 

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul performed a rockin' two-and-a-half-hour set Saturday night. (Photo bu Mike Morsch)

Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul performed a rockin’ two-and-a-half-hour set Saturday night.
(Photo bu Mike Morsch)

I not only didn’t know the words to the song Stevie was singing, I didn’t even know the song. Of course, my first reaction was to fake it. “Nah, nah, nah, yeah, yeah. Harumpf, grumble, groan, growl, baby-baby,” I spewed into the open mic in front of hundreds of people who apparently did know the words to the song and were singing along perfectly in union.

Oh, fer crissakes (face palm). How embarrassing. I finally got my 15 seconds of fame and turned it into five seconds of shitmouth. I’m pretty sure Stevie was thinking, “Man, you really fucked that up Mikey. Why don’t you and me take a little ride. I hear the Pine Barrens are pretty this time of year.”

Ok, I’ll sit down and shut up for the rest of the concert. 

But Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul put on a great show. Stevie had been upset on Twitter at a recent review of the show where the reviewer thought the band had mailed it in. But I didn’t see any of that. There was a seemingly endless energy from everybody on stage for two and a half hours. And we even got to see Stevie’s wife, Maureen Van Zandt (who also played the wife of his character Silvio Dante in “The Sopranos”), who came out to dance with him on “Soul Power Twist,” one of the fabulous songs — along with my other favorites “Love Again” and “A World of Our Own” — on his new album “Summer of Sorcery.”

Stevie's wife, Maureen Van Zandt, joined him onstage to dance the "Soul Power Twist." (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Stevie’s wife, Maureen Van Zandt, joined him onstage to dance the “Soul Power Twist.”
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

I’m not only a fan of his music, but I’ve been a fan of Stevie’s persona for a while now. What a wonderfully pleasant guy to talk to. He’s a walking history book of music knowledge. I’ve gotten to interview him twice for advance stories that I was doing, once when he was producing a series of reunion shows for The Rascals several years ago, and more recently to advance a show he was doing a couple of years ago at the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, N.J., kind of his home turf venue. 

What I really enjoy taking to him about though is his role — along with Bruce Springsteen (more than 600 words in this piece and this is the first mention of Springsteen) and Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes — in the development of what we now know as the “Jersey Shore sound.” His interview, along with an interview I did with Southside Johnny Lyon, will appear in a chapter about Southside’s first three albums in “The Vinyl Dialogues’ Greatest Hits: Volume V,” which I’m working on now.

Stevie Van Zandt — along with Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny Lyon — were instrumental in the development of the "Jersey Shore sound." (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Stevie Van Zandt — along with Bruce Springsteen and Southside Johnny Lyon — were instrumental in the development of the “Jersey Shore sound.”
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Here’s a sample of what Stevie said:

“The bar bands’ configuration, the bar bands’ sound, the bar bands’ music, literally changed its definition with Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes,” said Van Zandt. “Before that, bar bands were strictly Top 40. And only with the Jukes did they become synonymous with soul music and rhythm and blues, which is what all bar bands are considered to be now — their standard format. That wasn’t the case before the Jukes.

“It really did help to integrate the ‘Jersey Shore sound’ and at the time, really start to flesh out that sound. When there is more than one artist working, it starts to make the whole context more interesting,” said Van Zandt, who produced the first three Southside albums in the 1970s and wrote or co-wrote several songs for this albums, including “I Don’t Want to Go Home,” “This Time It’s for Real” and “Love on the Wrong Side of Town” with Springsteen. “What we had with Southside, I really didn’t appreciate it until later when someone explained to me how we had redefined the entire bar band definition and sound.”

Stevie’s sound — as well as his musicianship and showmanship — were on full display Saturday night. The Disciples of Soul killed it. And I walked away from the merch table with a tour poster, hat and the “Summer of Sorcery” CD. 

My wallet was right. Sitting in the front row for this concert was indeed a no-brainer. 

The Disciples of Soul having some fun at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

The Disciples of Soul having some fun at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Mike DelGuidice and Big Shot bring the Billy Joel big time

Mike DelGuidice and Big Shot performed Friday, June 14, 2019, at the Ambler Arts and Music Festival in Ambler, Pa. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Mike DelGuidice and Big Shot performed Friday, June 14, 2019, at the Ambler Arts and Music Festival in Ambler, Pa.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

From the very first song I heard Mike DelGuidice and his band Big Shot perform at last year’s Ambler Arts and Music Festival, my thought was, “Hey, this guy is pretty good. He really nails those Billy Joel songs.”

Well, that’s because DelGuidice and Big Shot have been performing Billy Joel’s music for nearly two decades. In fact, DelGuidice  is so good that in 2013, Joel hired him to be a backing vocalist and guitarist for Joel’s band. If you do an artist’s songs so well that the artist hires you to help him do his own songs, that’s pretty doggone good. 

But I didn’t know any of that the first time I heard DelGuidice and Big Shot. And I love those moments when I first discover an artist whose work I hadn’t previously known. I research the artist, listen to his/her stuff, become a fan and start to follow them, keeping an eye on the touring schedule to see when they’re coming back to my area.

And Friday, June 14, DelGuidice and Big Shot returned to the Ambler (Pa.) Arts and Music Festival and there we were, The Blonde Accountant and I, in our lawn chairs with the rest of the sinners and saints. To know exactly how big a deal this was, not many artists can get us out of the house on Friday nights. By the end of a long work week, we’re pretty much asleep as soon as dinner is finished.

Mike DelGuidice has been a member of Billy Joel's touring band since 2013. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Mike DelGuidice has been a member of Billy Joel’s touring band since 2013.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

But not this time, not when Mike DelGuidice and Big Shot are within shouting distance. And kudos the Ambler Arts and Music Festival braintrust for being savvy enough to recognize that Ambler loved this artist and band the first time they were here.  Bringing them back this year was a no-brainer and if the Ambler poohbahs are smart, they’ve already booked the band for next year.

DelGuidice, a Long Islander like Joel, is the real deal. He still tours with Joel all over the U.S. and world in major arenas and appears with Joel every month at Madison Square Garden in New York. When he’s not doing that, DelGuidice and Big Shot tour the U.S. themselves, bringing Joel’s music to places like Ambler. 

I had this ridiculous thought on the way to the show: What if Billy Joel decided to make an unbilled, surprise walk-on guest appearance with DelGuidice and Big Shot that night? But I quickly dismissed such tomfoolery. The odds of Billy Joel showing up at a local street festival in on a Friday night were lower than Mr. Blutarsky’s grade point average. 

But we didn’t need Billy Joel. Mike DelGudice and Big Shot are very, very good wth Billy Joel covers. For me, though, the highlights of the Ambler show weren’t the Joel tunes. 

DelGudice inserted one of his original songs into the setlist called “Mona Lisa” that is absolutely brilliant. Check out the video online (starring actor-comedian Kevin James of “The King of Queens” fame), which is equally as brilliant. (Shameless Promotion Alert: Buy the CD, download the album, support this artist.)

Mike DelGuidice included one of his songs, "Mona Lisa," in the setlist for this show. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

Mike DelGuidice included one of his songs, “Mona Lisa,” in the setlist for this show.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

The other highlight for me was DelGuidice’s cover of Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” written by Steve Tyler for the band’s 1973 self-titled debut album “Aerosmith.” I had decided to leave the comfort of my lawn chair and go down to stand in the pit in front of the stage when the band played “Dream On.” It was loud, it rocked and I didn’t fracture a hip while dancing to it. All positive things, by the way. 

The only blemish on an otherwise perfect show — and this is personal and not indicative of the overall performance itself — is that DelGudice and the band ended the evening with a Led Zeppelin song. I am not a Led Zeppelin fan at all. I didn’t like its music growing up in the 1970s — “Stairway to Heaven” is the worst make-out song in the history of make-out songs — and I don’t like it now. In fact, I’m not even familiar enough with Zeppelin’s catalog to report the title of the song that ended the show. Not that DelGuidice and Big Shot didn’t perform it superbly, they did. But that’s the song I can’t identify that I was humming to myself on the way to the car. Thanks, Mike.

The bottom line, though: Go see Mike DelGuidice and Big Shot. Support the music. And support your local music festivals. 

 

Rock royalty David Crosby humble and fun in New Jersey show

David Crosby performed Saturday, June 1, at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J., to kick off the 2019 Camden County summer concert series. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

David Crosby performed Saturday, June 1, at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J., to kick off the 2019 Camden County summer concert series.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

David Crosby didn’t end his show Saturday night in Pennsauken, N.J., with a song he had written himself. He ended it with a Neil Young song written for Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

“This is serious now. I’m gonna ask you to please sing really loud,” said Crosby to the large crowd attending the free concert at Cooper River Park for the kickoff event of the 2019 Camden County summer concert series. “This song is really important right now in America. It’s needs to get sung a whole lot really loud. Some people down there in D.C. need to hear it.”

Crosby — politically active throughout his career — and his Sky Trails Band then offered a spirited version of CSN&Y’s “Ohio,” a protest song and counterculture anthem about the Kent State shootings May 4, 1970. Four unarmed students were killed by Ohio National Guard soldiers during a campus protest against the bombing of Cambodia by the U.S. 

Young saw photos of the incident in Life magazine and decided to write the lyrics to “Ohio.” CSN&Y recorded the song at Record Plant Studios on May 21, 1970. It was released as a single in June 1970, but was banned from some AM radio stations because of the challenge to the Nixon administration in the lyrics.

David Crosby and his son, keyboardist James Raymond. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

David Crosby and his son, keyboardist James Raymond.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

The crowd in Pennsauken — which included a fair amount of old hippies, although somewhat surprisingly I didn’t smell any weed — obliged Crosby and sang “Ohio” really loud, the culmination of a performance by Crosby and his band that showed that the 77-year-old rocker has still got it and can bring it on any given night.

A founding member of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash — both groups are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — Crosby co-wrote “Eight Miles High” for The Byrds as well as “Wooden Ships” for CS&N, both of which we heard Saturday night, among many of his other hits. 

He may look like an old hippie himself, with his long, white hair and his droopy drawers that would fall right off if it weren’t for suspenders, but Crosby’s voice is still strong. Our rock royalty heroes are getting old — we are, too, along with them — and some of them don’t have the vocal command they once had. 

Crosby isn’t one of those. He’s still got the pipes, has  surrounded himself with brilliant musicians, including his son James Raymond, and still puts emotion into the old songs as well as freshness into his new songs. 

David Crosby has been indicted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of two bands — The Byrds and Crosby, Still & Nash. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

David Crosby has been indicted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of two bands — The Byrds and Crosby, Still & Nash.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

He has admitted in the past to being brash, and he’s still got a touch of that, although he copped to being just “silly” these days to the New Jersey crowd. Reports are that Stills, Nash and Young don’t speak to him now, which might not seem all that unusual for a group that has had several internal dust-ups over the years. But Croz was humble on this evening and seemed to genuinely appreciate that the crowd had come out to see him.

As an aside, if you frequent Twitter, you can follow Crosby and maybe even have an exchange with him. He does engage his fans on that social platform, but be forewarned: He doesn’t suffer fools easily. If you ask him a legit question, you likely will get an answer, albeit short and sweet. Likewise, if you tweet something stupid, he’ll call you out. I’ve had a couple of music-related exchanges with him and have managed to stay out of his doghouse.

And kudos to Camden County for kicking off its summer concert series by bringing in a big name. You don’t often see a top tier artist like Crosby for free. Camden County must have shelled out a keg of gold for this show, but it appeared to be greatly appreciated by those in attendance. 

There are few things better than sitting out in a nice park, on a perfect summer evening, and watching one of our generation’s musical icons.

David Crosby has surrounded himself with brilliant musicians, including lead guitarist Jeff Pevar. (Photo by Mike Morsch)

David Crosby has surrounded himself with brilliant musicians, including lead guitarist Jeff Pevar.
(Photo by Mike Morsch)

Page 3 of 16

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén