An Alternative History of "Pop" Music

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The Last Poets - True Blues



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEbKNpotDmw

Incendiary.

The Last Poets are several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalism. The name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who believed he was in the last era of poetry before guns would take over.

The versions of the group led by Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin and Umar Bin Hassan had the largest impact on popular culture. The Last Poets were one of the earliest influences on hip-hop music.

Critic Jason Ankeny wrote: "With their politically charged raps, taut rhythms, and dedication to raising African-American consciousness, the Last Poets almost single-handedly laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip-hop." The British music magazine NME stated, "Serious spokesmen like Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, and later Gary Byrd, paved the way for the many socially committed black emcees a decade later."

[jamiefairlie]

The Free Design - One by One

https://youtu.be/ZXtbO2Js8s0



Title track of their seventh album

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The 5th Dimension - Every Night



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f75I6tFH7w

An ace sunshine soul cover of the atypically introspective Macca tune from his debut solo LP. The 5th Dimension make it sound more uplifting than the low-key original, focusing as they do on the redemptive "I just wanna stay in and be with you" refrain.

The lyrics of Every Night reflect the difficult situation McCartney was dealing with at the time the song was written, which was in light of the imminent breakup of the Beatles.

[jobotic]

Hardys Jet Band - Sorry, Doc!



Written by Hartmut Kiesewetter, and included on the 1971 German "advertising backgrounds" compilation album 'Blue Butterfly'

Wow, I was about to post this from the same album

Gary Pacific Orchestra - Soft Wind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CdxbZ4gDso&fbclid=IwAR3inhXjmrNbe8rac8M7QDZkMHfg74OfPzqpInm5eOjwZl9dR2bR9UL5r-M

Took me ages to work out where I knew this from, but I'm sure its in a De La Soul song.


Talking of samples i've been trying to decide whether or not to post Bill Cosby's brilliant 1971 track that was sampled in Tribe Called Quest's awesome We Can Get Down. But he's a rapist.

[jamiefairlie]

The Idle Race - Dancing Flower

https://youtu.be/WNvbZIMjFpo



From Birmingham and probably best known for having Jeff Lynne as a member before he joined The Move and formed ELO. This is from their third and final album, Time Is.

[daf]

Hugo Strasser Und Sein Tanzorchester ‎ - Black Night



Released on the German covers album 'Tanzhits ´71'

[Brundle-Fly]

Let's Make It Now - Los Dug Dug's. Released on RCA Victor in 1971.



Ariba! It was a toughie to single out one track from this magnificent album. I went for this high octane skittering number

Los Dug Dug's is a rock group from Durango, Mexico, best known for their work in the 1960s and early 1970s. It was one of the first Mexican bands to adapt The Beatles' influence and are noted as one of the first Mexican rock bands to write their own songs, as well as cover songs by British and American acts in English, thus breaking what had up to then been an unwritten rule in Mexican rock. The band continues to perform today.

Thanks to daf for showing me how to time link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IckPEWfNDSc&t=10m54s

[jamiefairlie]

The Keefe Sisters - Love Knows

https://youtu.be/QvFpcSXrXNw



From Nova Scotia, they were three sisters who, at the time of recording,  were 17, 16 and 12 years of age. Taken from their only release, Our Heritage And Other Things .

[jobotic]

Some brilliant stuff on here, as always. That Brigadune track is amazing - the lyrics!


This probably is famous but i can only see that it was released as single in Holland.

Caetano Valeso - London London

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n83VRAWDjAA

A gorgeous song, and I'm glad that he enjoyed London. Something said about a Brazilian singing about our lovely friendly policemen in the capital knowing what happened 34 years later, but in comparison with Brazil at the time...

[daf]

You've linked to another track there - is this the one you want? :

Caetano Valeso - London London

[jobotic]

Oh so I have! Thanks.

Now you know what my next one might be.

[daf]

Beau - Nine Minutes



Opening track from his 1971 album 'Creation'

Christopher John Trevor Midgley, performing as Beau, first became known in the late 1960s through his recordings for John Peel's Dandelion Records label, releasing two albums – 'Beau' in 1969 and 'Creation' in 1971 - which featured Jim Milne and Steve Clayton from Tractor as backing musicians on some tracks.

His 1969 single, "1917 Revolution", had greater success abroad than it did in the United Kingdom, and is said to have been the inspiration for America's "A Horse with No Name".

[Phil_A]

Happy End - Kaze wo Atsumete

Happy End (Japanese: はっぴいえんど, Hepburn: Happī Endo) was a Japanese folk rock band active from 1969 to 1972. Composed of Haruomi Hosono, Takashi Matsumoto, Eiichi Ohtaki and Shigeru Suzuki, the band's pioneering sound was regarded as avant-garde to most Japanese at the time. They are considered to be among the most influential artists in Japanese music.[3] MTV described Happy End's music as "rock with psych smudges around the edges."

In October 1969, Haruomi Hosono and Takashi Matsumoto formed a group named Blue Valentine (ヴァレンタイン・ブルー) right after their previous psychedelic rock band Apryl Fool disbanded. In March 1970, Hosono, Matsumoto and Shigeru Suzuki contributed to Kenji Endo's album Niyago. The group changed their name to Happy End and were the backing band for Nobuyasu Okabayashi, performing on his album Miru Mae ni Tobe.[4] The band began recording their own album in April 1970.

Their self-titled debut album (written in Japanese as はっぴいえんど) was released in August on the experimental record label URC (Underground Record Club).[5] This album marked an important turning point in Japanese music history, as it sparked what would be known as the "Japanese-language Rock Controversy" (ja:日本語ロック論争, Nihongo Rokku Ronsō). There were highly publicized debates held between prominent figures in the Japanese rock industry, most notably the members of Happy End and Yuya Uchida, regarding whether rock music sung entirely in Japanese was sustainable. Previously, almost all popular rock music in Japan was sung in English. The success of Happy End's debut album and their second, Kazemachi Roman released a year later, proved the sustainability of Japanese-language rock in Japan.[6]

For their third album, also titled Happy End (this time written in the Latin alphabet), they signed with King Records and recorded in 1972 in Los Angeles with Van Dyke Parks producing.[5] Although Hosono later described the work with Parks as "productive," the album sessions were tenuous, and the members of Happy End were disenchanted with their vision of America they had anticipated.[7] A language barrier along with opposition between the Los Angeles studio personnel and Happy End was also apparent, which further frustrated the group.[8] These feelings were conveyed in the closing track "Sayonara America, Sayonara Nippon", which received some contributions from Parks and Little Feat guitarist Lowell George.[9] As Matsumoto explained: "We had already given up on Japan, and with [that song], we were saying bye-bye to America too—we weren't going to belong to any place."[7] While the band officially disbanded on December 31, 1972, the album was released in February 1973.[3] They had their last concert on September 21, 1973 titled City -Last Time Around, with a live album of the show released as Live Happy End the following year.

[jamiefairlie]

Ok, time to say farewell to 1971, 1972 will start later tomorrow, so get your  final entries in soon....

[daf]

Just to clarify - is that 'later tomorrow' wednesday or thursday?

[Brundle-Fly]

Sonnet To The Fall - Dulcimer.  Released on Nepentha in 1971





Delicately windswept harmonic folk with esteemed actor, Richard Todd on narration duties.

DULCIMER were a longstanding collective consisting of three musicians, all multi-instrumentalists: Dave Eaves, Pete Hodges and Jem North. The band's origins are sketchy, but they recorded their debut 'And I Turned As I Had Turned As a Boy' as a trio under the direction of Troggs manager Larry Page in 1970. The album made little impression at the time but is widely sought-after by serious UK folk music collectors today. The album has been reissued several times on both vinyl and CD.

The band recorded twice more in the early seventies before fading into obscurity, but neither 'Room for Thought' nor 'A Land Fit for Heroes' (with rural English author Fred Archer) would find their way into an official release until years later.

DULCIMER had a resurgence of sorts in the nineties thanks to the small President Records label, who released a trio of the band's albums as well as the shelved 'Room for Thought' project on CD ('A Land Fit for Heroes' had been issued thanks to the band's own financing in 1980).

Their music has been described as folk-rock and is mostly acoustic, but the band's penchant for odd themes, creative arrangements, and occasional progressive forays merits them inclusion here in the Archives. DULCIMER will appeal to fans of understated, acoustic-driven music with classic folk instrumentation such as mandolins, acoustic guitars, flutes, and of course dulcimers.

>> Bio by Bob Moore (aka ClemofNazareth) <<

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C1MMxKU-MI

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

David Porter - Help!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FozKt0_qW0

Another Fabs soul cover.

David Porter is an American record producer, songwriter and singer. In 2015, Rolling Stone listed him among the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. He is best known for co-writing several Sam & Dave hits with Isaac Hayes.

Starting in the late 1960s, Hayes became increasingly focused on his own recording career, eventually leading to the end of the songwriting partnership. The Hayes-Porter duo composed 200 songs during their collaboration. Porter then began recording his own albums for Stax, among them the elaborately packaged 1971 concept LP, Victim of the Joke? An Opera, which includes an upbeat cover of The Beatles' Help!.

[daf]

Open Road - Waterwheel



Released in 1971 on the album 'Windy Daze'

In 1970, after parting ways with regular producer Mickie Most, Donovan moved back to the UK, booked time at London's newly renovated Morgan Studios and began recording and producing the tracks that would form his next album. He made demos of around 20 new songs with just vocals and acoustic guitar, before assembling his new band. Dubbed "Open Road", the band was Donovan on guitar and harmonica, his frequent collaborator "Candy" John Carr on drums, and bassist/guitarist Mike Thompson who'd been a bandmate of Carr's in a group called Dada Lives. The trio were joined by former Nero and the Gladiators / Heads Hands & Feet keyboardist Mike O'Neill for some of the album's songs, and O'Neill stayed on to play a few gigs with Open Road.

Donovan's intention was for Open Road to be the band he'd tour with indefinitely, primarily by sea on his own yacht. The plan was to leave Britain for one year, in part to avoid the exorbitant tax that the British government was levying on pop stars. The band met up on the Mediterranean isle of Crete to prepare the ship, rehearse material. The group ended up flying from Greece to France, to the Soviet Union, and then Japan, never fully embarking on their sea voyage. They also played a concert in Viareggio, Italy that was broadcast on Italian television. Donovan cut the tour short, returning to the UK to focus on his family and record his next album, 1971's H.M.S. Donovan, on which John Carr and Mike Thompson also appeared.

The last gig that Donovan did with Open Road was at the third annual Isle of Wight Festival on 30 August 1970. Subsequently, Thompson and Carr continued to perform as Open Road, reassembling the group that same year with former Dada Lives bandmate Barry Husband on guitar and vocals, and church organist Simon Lanzon on keyboards.



They recorded and released one more album, 1971's Windy Daze, before disbanding. Lanzon continued to be active in music and film, hooking up with a music collective that evolved into Chumbawamba.

[Clatty McCutcheon]

Crazy Horse - I Don't Want To Talk About It

Later a hit for Rod Stewart, and also for Everything But The Girl, this is the original version from Crazy Horse's eponymous 1971 album. It was written by guitarist Danny Whitten.

https://youtu.be/NBz_2EqJ5wI

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Elvis Presley - Merry Christmas Baby



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdhcFrPrzGE

Elvis and the TCB Band get deep down in the dirty Memphis snow with this blues classic. It's a simmering festive beast.

[daf]

Los Que Vivimos - Contrapunto



Released in Spain in 1971 on the Belter Label

Los Que Vivimos were formed in Vallecas, a working class district in Madrid which had a reputation for anti-Franco resistance during the dictatorship. 

[Brundle-Fly]

Her Song - Colin Blunstone Released on Epic in 1971



What can I say about this? Elegant string quartet chamber pop at its finest. An album to be filed alongside your Nick Drake ones.

Her Song comes from One Year, the debut solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Colin Blunstone, a member of The Zombies. It was released by Epic Records in 1971. It includes "Say You Don't Mind", which peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfvLPFTOvHc&list=PL8a8cutYP7foETLWnZOwNHpLnZTHMEwKt&index=7

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Judee Sill - Crayon Angels



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhbnB1EDdQY

The hugely gifted Judee Sill has appeared twice in this thread so far (once via a Turtles cover), but it's been a while so here she is again. This is the opening track from her debut album. I love her music so much, it's beautiful.

Judee Sill was an American singer and songwriter. The first artist signed to David Geffen's Asylum label, she released two albums and partially completed a third before dying of a drug overdose in 1979. Sill was influenced by Bach, especially his suites, while lyrically her work drew substantially on Christian themes of rapture and redemption

Although her music was not commercially successful, a number of later songwriters have been fans of her work, including Andy Partridge, Liz Phair, Warren Zevon, Shawn Colvin, Steven Wilson and Terra Spencer.

[daf]

Roberto Delgado - Mocoto



Featured on his 1971 album 'Latin Flutes'

Robert Delgado was born on Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. By 1971, performing as 'The Master', he had teamed up with the Nestene Consciousness to help them invade planet Earth by having shop-window dummies smash though windows . . . or something. Jon Pertwee convinced Delgado to stop this plan at the last minute, and he subsequently escaped, albeit with his TARDIS, a space-time ship, left non-functioning after Pertwee confiscated the ship's dematerialisation circuit - the hamfisted bun-vendor!

[daf]

Ginger Ale - Scoobidad



Reached #10 in the Dutch charts in August 1971

Ginger Ale were a fizzy pop band formed in 1969 in Amsterdam. Members included Ad Van Olm, Richard de Bois, Rick Beekman, Ron Bijtelaar, Steve Allet, and Will Luikinga.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

The Kinks - Oklahoma USA



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQcf6qRMZMo

One of Ray's saddest, prettiest songs, this is from Muswell Hillbillies, which is generally regarded as the Kinks' last consistently great album. I'm inclined to agree.

[daf]

Stackridge - Dora, The Female Explorer



Released in May 1971 - did not chart

Stackridge Lemon were formed from the remains of Grytpype Thynne by Andy Davis and James "Crun" Walter during 1969. Having dropped the 'Lemon', the band played their first London gig at The Temple in Wardour Street in February 1970, and were the opening and closing act at the first Glastonbury Festival in September 1970.

During 1970 the members of the band shared a communal flat as their headquarters at 32, West Mall in Clifton, Bristol, the address of which Davis and Warren later used as the title of a song which appeared on the debut album.

 

During 1971 Stackridge began serious gigging, although 'Crun' left to take up bricklaying. The rest of the band embarked on a UK tour supporting Wishbone Ash. Later in the year they signed to MCA Records and recorded their first album 'Stackridge', at De Lane Lea Studios, London. They toured the UK as headliners with Renaissance supporting and played their first John Peel session for the BBC, which included a version of The Beatles' 'Norwegian Wood'.

[Brundle-Fly]

You Know What I Mean - Justin Heathcliff. Released as a B-side to Goodbye on Atlantic in 1971





It comes from an absolute firecracker of an album. Was Justin Heathcliff some Beatles disciple Liverpool pop poet?

No, actually, he was possibly The Rutles before The Rutles. I'll let Julian Cope explain...


As the brainchild of former Launchers guitarist Osamu Kitajima, the Justin Heathcliff project was a successful attempt to cop the kind of English post-REVOLVER psychedelia that such London bands as The Syn, Mike Stuart Span and The Flies were recording in 1967-8. As such, the project was highly successful, especially considering it was recorded in London by a former GS guitarist with a fixation for traditional Japanese instruments. It was not, however, Kitajima's fastidious attention to achieving sonic geographical accuracy that made the finished result a bit special, but the simple fact that love anything English of that period, even if it's been faked. The Justin Heathcliff LP is ultimately a cleverly executed but rather pointless exercise in genre re-creating, something that Acid Mother's Temple attempted with a good deal more humour on their LP of fake 'Occitanian folk music' LA NOVIA.

Julian Cope

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcqOA7EkMwQ&feature=emb_logo

[daf]

Cressida - Goodbye Post Office Tower Goodbye



From their second album 'Asylum' released in 1971

In March 1968, guitarist John Heyworth joined The Dominators, a band whose situation he later described as "hopeless - until Angus Cullen applied for the lead singer spot". He and Heyworth hit it off immediately, and the pair settled down to some serious writing. Bassist Kevin McCarthy and drummer Iain Clark joined them to form Charge.

In the Summer of 1969, shortly after returning from a German tour, the band's organist Lol Coker decided to leave, and Peter Jennings then joined. At this point the band settled on the name Cressida. Signed to Vertigo, the first LP consisted of songs by either Cullen or Heyworth (who handled lead vocals on one), plus one contribution each by Jennings and Clark.



Cressida went through a difficult phase when Heyworth was forced to leave in early 1970. Heyworth was replaced by John Culley, who had been playing with Geno Washington. The new line-up recorded Cressida's second LP, Asylum, in 1970, but it was released posthumously in 1971, the band having broken up in September 1970.

After the band split up, Clark joined Uriah Heep. McCarthy joined Tranquility as rhythm guitarist and vocalist rather than bassist. In 1972, Culley linked up with the "Come Come, Come to the Sabbat, Come To The Sabbat, Satan's There" hit-makers Black Widow, and from 1981–1984, joined Colin Tench to launch the London six-piece progressive rock band Odin.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

Some amazing stuff in the last few pages, as always.