The Vinyl Dialogues Blog

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

Category: The Vinyl Dialogues Book Page 6 of 16

The Brooklyn Bridge: Still looking for an echo and continuing a legacy

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On February 26, 2018

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

The Del-Satins were always looking for an echo. A doo-wop group from New York that formed in the early 1960s, they would search out an overpass in Central Park, a subway station, anywhere that provided a good echo to enhance their sound.

The five original members – Stan Zizka, Fred Ferrara, his brother Tom Ferrara, Keith Koestner and Les Cauchi – had decided to call themselves the Del-Satins as a tribute to their doo-wop heroes, the Dells and the Five Satins. When they weren’t looking for an echo, the Del-Satins would sing on street corners, like many other singing groups from that era.

The Del-Satins had some early success when they got an opportunity to sing with Dion DiMucci. One of the most popular  artists of the late 1950s, Dion had split with his singing group, the Belmonts, and was looking for a new vocal group.

“Our manager sent us … Read more

Kenny Gamble: Respectfully thanking a legend without saying a word

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On October 6, 2017

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

Kenny Gamble had written a song, but it wasn’t complete. He was stuck without a second verse, and he couldn’t quite get it.

But The O’Jays were in the studio – Sigma Sound Studios at 12th and Race in Philadelphia – and ready to go. It was 1972, and they had already laid down nine other tracks for an album they were recording for Philadelphia International Records, co-founded by Gamble and Leon Huff, as well as the background vocals to the final song and were anxious to see how the rest of it would sound.

Gamble called for a five-minute break, left the recording booth and retired to a small back room at Sigma Sound to work on writing the second verse of the song.

Everything in the studio was set up and ready to go. Now, The O’Jays were just waiting on Gamble to finish the song.

A few … Read more

Channeling the ‘Friday Night at Joni Mitchell’s House’ vibe at the local level

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On September 10, 2017

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

It was like sitting around the Algonquin Round Table in New York City in the 1920s with the likes of great writers of the time – people like Dorothy Parker and George Kaufman.

Only the writers this time were musicians – like David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman – and it was the early 1970s.

And the venue wasn’t the historic Algonquin Hotel, in which the greatest writers, critics and actors of that earlier era gathered to exchange wordplay and witticisms. It was the living room of Joni Mitchell’s Laurel Canyon home in California.

There, on any given Friday night, some of the greatest singer-songwriters of their generation would pass around a guitar and play some of the songs they had been working on, songs that hadn’t yet been recorded. Songs that would someday be big hits.

“It was the early … Read more

A ‘fine girl’ turns 45: Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass details the writing of his iconic song ‘Brandy’

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On August 23, 2017

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

Elliot Lurie picked up his J-200 acoustic guitar and sat down in the upstairs bedroom of a farmhouse that he and his bandmates had rented in Hunterdon County, New Jersey.

The farmhouse had been built around the turn of the 20th century and was surrounded by 88 acres of farmland. The band, which had been fairly successful playing bars and fraternity houses in the late 1960s in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, had rented it for $240 a month with the hopes that it would provide an atmosphere that was conducive to creating music that would take the band to the next level.

Even though he was just out of college in 1970, Lurie had already developed his own way of songwriting, which included playing a chord sequence and melody that worked for him, then just free associating from there.

In high school, Lurie had a girlfriend named Randye. So he … Read more

Micky Dolenz and Mark Lindsay getting some kicks out of monkeying around

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On July 28, 2017

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

The Monkees had gone on a press junket to England in early 1967 and the Beatles had welcomed them by hosting a party at the Speakeasy Club – known as “The Speak” – in London.

The party had left such an impression on Micky Dolenz that the following morning, the Monkees’ drummer decided to write a song about it.

“I was just sitting in my hotel room with a guitar and I started writing a sort of stream of consciousness about my experiences over there. All the people and references in that song are somebody that I knew,” said Dolenz in a recent interview. “The Four Kings of EMI are sitting stately on the floor – that was because the Beatles had the Sgt. Pepper album.”

Dolenz called the song “Randy Scouse Git,” a phrase he had picked up from watching the English television sitcom Till Death Us Do Part… Read more

Doobie Brothers still rockin’ down the highway

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On July 23, 2017

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

First things first: Let’s just put the Doobie Brothers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame right now. It’s long overdue. Waive whatever rules there all and just pencil the band in to accept the designation and perform at the next induction ceremony.

This is not a new thought, but it certainly was reinforced Saturday, July 21, when the Doobies shared the bill with Chicago (2016 R&RHOF inductees).

Simply put, the Doobie Brothers rocked the roof off the BB&T Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey. They’re just that good. The 15-song set was heavy on the early Doobies, with 13 of the songs coming from albums recorded between 1972 and 1975 – Toulouse Street, The Captain and Me, What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits and Stampede.

That was fine with me. Those were the years that I listened to a lot of Doobie Brothers. I was a sophomore … Read more

‘Takin’ It to the Streets’ with Michael McDonald on the Atlantic City Boardwalk

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On July 9, 2017

In The Vinyl Dialogues Book

Michael McDonald closed his show Saturday night at the Tropicana in Atlantic City with “Takin’ It to the Streets,” which made sense.

The song, from a 1976 Doobie Brothers album by the same name, was the first single written by McDonald released from the first album on which he appeared as a member of the Doobie Brothers. The song made it to No. 13 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Singles chart. It’s a great tune and likely holds a special spot for McDonald among his vast library of songs.

McDonald had replaced Tom Johnston, who was sidelined in 1975 with health issues, in the Doobie Brothers, and “Takin’ It to the Streets” – both the song and album itself – was a signal that the band was going in a completely different direction.

The intro to “Takin’ It to the Streets” came to McDonald in his car while driving through … Read more

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