Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Silverhead, "Rolling with My Baby," 1972

Short-lived British "glam" rock band of the early 1970s, this is one of their best numbers, and it's quite a catchy one:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Duffy, "Running Away," 1973

British rock band, that enjoyed some success on the Continent, before fading into oblivion; this is a great tune from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Third Power, "Persecution," 1970

Detroit-based hard blues rock trio of the late 1960s, this great version of the Drew Abbott song comes from their one and only album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Humble Pie, "Down Home Again," 1969

Humble Pie, featuring Steve Marriott (from the Small Faces) and Peter Frampton, made it big in the early 1970s, but some of my favorite songs come from their early albums, that didn't even chart in the U.S.  This great number is from their second album, Town and Country, and reflects the somewhat harder blues rock sound that brought them success a couple of years later:

 

Great moments in British rock 'n' roll that remain obscure in the U.S.: Status Quo, "Down Down," 1974

Here's another great number by Status Quo; this song was a worldwide hit, but not in the U.S.:

 

Great moments in British rock 'n' roll that remain obscure in the U.S.: Family, "Winter," 1968

This British psychedelic/progressive/generally eclectic band scored several top ten albums in the U.K. in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but was mostly unknown in the U.S.  (One member of the band, bassist Ric Grech, enjoyed greater fame and fortune with Blind Faith and then Traffic.)  This is one of my favorite songs from their first album:

 

Great moments in British rock 'n' roll that remain obscure in the U.S.: Taste, "What's Going On," 1968

The great Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher led this blues rock trio from 1966-1970, which enjoyed it's greatest success in the U.K..  This is the lead number from their final studio album, an album which made the top 20 in the U.K. (as did the later live recording of their performance at the Isle of Wight festival):

 

Great moments in British rock 'n' roll that remain obscure in the U.S.: The Move, "I Can Hear the Grass Grow," 1967

The Move was a pop/psychedelic band led by Roy Wood (of later Electric Light Orchestra fame in the 1970s) that had a string of hits on the UK charts in the late 1960s, before recasting themselves (with new guitarist Jeff Lynne, who formed ELO with Wood subsequently) as a blues rock band around 1970 (e.g.).   This is my favorite of their pop/psychedelic UK hits that never charted int he U.S.:

 

Great moments in British rock 'n' roll that remain obscure in the U.S.: Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, "Man of the World," 1969

Fleetwood Mac began as part of the British blues explosion of the late 1960s, led by guitarist Peter Green.  While "Oh Well" is known in the U.S. (thanks to many covers), Green's version of the band had other hits in 1968 and 1969, that made no appearances on the U.S. charts.   This number hit #2 on the UK charts:

 

Great moments in British rock 'n' roll that remain obscure in the U.S.: Small Faces, "Tin Soldier," 1967

Between 1965 and 1968, the Small Faces had multiple top ten hits in the UK, but cracked the U.S. top twenty only once, with "Itchycoo Park."  Steve Marriott, the brilliant and distinctive lead vocalist (and guitarist), left the group in 1969 to form Humble Pie with Peter Frampton and moved in a more hard blues rock direction, which led to great success in the U.S. in the early 1970s; the remaining Small Faces joined forces with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood to form the hugely successful Faces, which also had a good run in the early 1970s.  But here the Small Faces are at the peak of their U.K. success, with a great single (lip synced here) that never made it in the U.S.:

 

 

Great moments in British rock 'n' roll that remain obscure in the U.S.: Slade, "Goodbye T'Jane," 1972

Slade remains a mystery to me:  they repeatedly topped the British charts in the 1970s as part of the "glam rock" phenomenon (think early 1970s David Bowie) with songs I find mostly unlistenable, and which most Americans did too:  a few cracked the top 100, but Slade never scored a (barely) top 20 hit in the U.S. until the 1980s.   Here's what seems to me the best of the 1970s singles that were big hits in the UK (and much of Europe):

 

Great moments in British rock 'n' roll that remain obscure in the U.S.: Status Quo, "Paper Plane," 1972

For the next few weeks, we'll take a break from our usual utterly obscure features in favor of the curious phenomenon of bands that were hugely successful in the UK, but never really made it in the U.S.  We start with Status Quo, which was one of the most successful rock bands in Britain from the early 1970s onwards, yet after their brief psychedelic period in the 1960s, they never again cracked the U.S. charts.   Here's one of their many well-known hits from the 1970s:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Ancient Grease, "Freedom Train," 1970

We haven't featured this Welsh hard (or "heavy" as is sometimes said) blues rock band since 2020, but here's another number from their one and only album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Frost, "Baby Once You Got It," 1969

We haven't featured in quite awhile this Michigan psychedelic band that never made it as big as its contemporaries (like Grand Funk and Bob Seger); this comes from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Gods, "You're My Life," 1968

Another tune from the debut album of the British band The Gods (featuring a pre-Uriah Heep Ken Hensley), one that borrows, perhaps a bit too much, from a 1966 Cream song:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Status Quo, "Spinning Wheel Blues," 1970

This British rock band may be the most aptly named band in history, since they have always adjusted their style to the current fashions, from psychedelic, to 70s/80s stadium rock, to, in this obscure case, the British blues explosion (but I actually like this number the best):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Emitt Rhodes," Fresh as a Daisy," 1970

Via Nathan Salmon on FB, I learned about Emitt Rhodes, a Californian singer-songwriter, who on his self-titled debut, recorded in his home, he played all the instruments and sang all the vocal parts.  At the time he was dubbed "the one-man Beatles," and listeners will note the similarity to Paul McCartney, in particular.  This was the single from that album, which made the Billboard top 100, but not the top 40.

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Steamhammer, "When All Your Friends are Gone," 1969

Part of the British blues explosion (and one of our "top five" finds in 2021), here they are live on the German show Beat Club performing a great number from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Epitaph, "Changing World," 1971

German progressive rock band, this is the concluding track on their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Blonde on Blonde, "All Day All Night," 1968

Another great tune from the Welsh band we featured last fall; very 1968, complete with sitar!

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: the five best finds of 2021...

...in my opinion, anyway. Glad to hear yours in the comments (click on the category, "Great Moments in Obscure Rock 'n' Roll" [in which this post appears] to see this year's selections from which to choose).

Here's my top five:

Bang, "Mother," 1972

Blodwyn Pig, "Same Old Story," 1970

The Damnation of Adam Blessing, "The Last Train to Clarksville," 1969

Steamhammer, "Contemporary Chick Con Song," 1969

Tucky Buzzard, "She's Meat," 1971

And a few runners-up that could just as well have been the top five:

Bang, "Feels Nice," 1973

Blonde on Blonde, "Conversationally Making the Grade," 1969

Tucky Buzzard, "Time Will Be Your Doctor," 1971

Zior, "I Really Do," 1971

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Zior, "Rolling Thunder," 1971

British hard rock/blues band,whose best song we featured earlier this year, but the concluding number of their debut album isn't bad either:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Black Cat Bones, "Sylvester's Blues," 1969

British blues rock band of the late 1960s, an earlier incarnation included Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke, who later found great success with the band Free; the lineup that recorded this number from the band's one-and-only album included only one musician who went on to later fame and fortune: Rod Price, the slide guitarist for Foghat in the 1970s.

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Cannonball Adderley, "My Little Benny Hen," 1972

Adderley is best-know as a jazz saxophonist, but he did record this live rocking blues number, which appears on the memorably titled album The Black Messiah:

(Thanks to Spencer Case for the pointer.)

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Elias Hulk, "Yesterday's Trip," 1970

Short-lived British "progressive" blues rock band of the late 1960s and early 1970s, this comes from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Kaledeiscope, "Banjo," 1969

We last featured this eclectic California band last year, and this is another number, an instrumental, from the same album, featuring the versatile David Lindley:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Kavhas Jute, "Odyssey," 1971

Kahvas Jute, Australia's answer to Cream, was last featured back in 2017, but here's another fine number from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Mighty Baby, "Egyptian Tomb," 1969

British psychedelic and folk rock band, this is one of their best-known songs, from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Les Variations, "Completely Free," 1969

We featured this French rock band (all Jews of Moroccan extraction) earlier this year; here's another hard blues rock number from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Tractor, "Make the Journey," 1972

British psychedelic/space rock band, whose style was probably a few years too late.  Still, this song surely would have been a sensation in the summer of 1968 (especially if they cut the last few minutes!):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Comus, "Song to Comus," 1971

Eclectic British folk/psychedelic/progressive band, they have enjoyed a cult following for many years.  This song comes from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Tucky Buzzard, "She's Meat," 1971

Last featured in 2020, this British band, produced by Bill Wyman, produced several albums in the early 1970s; this song also comes from the best, second album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Juicy Lucy, "Missippi Woman," 1969

The lead number from the debut album of this British blues rock band that we last featured in 2019:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Three Man Army, "Polecat Woman," 1974

British hard rock trio active in the early 70s, this is the lead number from their third album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Third World War, "Ascension Day," 1971

Short-lived British proto-punk band formed in 1970, this is probably the best number from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Toe Fat, "Bad Side of the Moon," 1970

Several members of this British band went on to greater fame and fortune with Uriah Heep (Ken Hensley, Lee Kerslake) and Jethro Tull (John Glascock); this is their version of an Elton John song:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Blonde on Blonde, "Conversationally Making the Grade," 1969

Eclectic Welsh rock band, who took their name from the 1966 Bob Dylan album, they did not enjoy much success, but recorded some memorable tunes, including this one:

 

Great moments in classic blues and their rock 'n' roll covers: Bukka White, "Parchman Farm Blues," 1940

This will be the final installment of classic blues performances that were later covered by rock 'n' roll performers.   The regular "Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll" will resume the first Saturday in September.

Bukka White (1906-1977) was another Delta bluesman, who served time in the infamous Parchman Farm prison in Mississippi, memorialized in his probably best-known song:

In 1957, the blues and jazz pianist Mose Allison did his own version, which had a more direct influence on later covers:

Great moments in classic blues and their rock 'n' roll covers: Robert Johnson, "Love in Vain Blues," 1937

Here's two takes by Johnson of this great number made famous three decades later by the Rolling Stones:

And here's the Stones from 1969's Let It Bleed:

 

Great moments in the blues and their rock 'n' roll covers: Robert Johnson, "Cross Road Blues," 1936

Robert Johnson (1911-1938) may be the most famous of the bluesmen of the first half of the 20th-century, and many of his songs have been recorded by rock musicians from the 1960s onwards.   Here's the original of the song Cream made famous for a new generation:

And the cover, by Cream, live in 1968:

Great moments in the blues and their rock 'n' roll covers: William "Big Foot" Harris, "Bullfrog Blues," circa 1927-29

Little is known about William "Big Foot" Harris, who recorded a dozen or so songs in the late 1920s, of which this has become the best-known over time:

The greatest covers of this number are all by Rory Gallagher, of which there are many versions on YouTube.  Here's one of my favorites, from 1976:

Great moments in classic blues and their rock 'n' roll covers: Henry Thomas, "Bull Doze Blues," 1928

In summer 2018, I did a series on the blues roots of rock music; as I wrote then:  "All the best rock 'n' roll is indebted through and through to the blues music produced by African-Americans, first in the American South in the first half of the 20th-century and then moving a bit north (to cites like Chicago) after WWII."  Thanks to the sickness of American apartheid, it largely fell to British and Irish musicians to recapture it and popularize it, although a couple of American bands (e.g., Canned Heat, The Allman Brothers Band) helped.  For the rest of the summer, I'll feature some of the classic blues originals, along with some of the more famous covers.  We'll start with what was the "Bull-Doze Blues" by Henry Thomas (1874-1930), but became far more famous in the 1960s as "Going Up the Country."

And here's the Canned Heat version (very indebted to the original), which became a hit in 1968:

Great moments in live (in the studio) rock 'n' roll: Albert King & Stevie Ray Vaughn, "Born Under a Bad Sign," 1983

I'd never seen this clip before, a recording of a live studio session with two great blues guitarists:

(Thanks to Frank Saunders for the pointer.)

 

Great moments in live (folk) rock 'n' roll: Joni Mitchell, "Urge for Going," 1966

This is a remarkable early clip from a somewhat corny Canadian music show (Mitchell's performance starts at about the one minute mark):

(Thanks to Dan Jacobson for calling this to my attention.)

Great moments in live rock 'n' roll: Foghat, "Slow Ride," 1976

Foghat emerged from the British Savoy Brown Blues & Boogie Band, and really made it big in America in the mid-1970s, when they were a staple of stadium rock concerts (and, allegedly, one of the inspirations for the rock satire This is Spinal Tap).   Here's a terrific live performance of one of their signature songs, complete with the long Rod Price slide guitar intro (the video quality is uneven, alas):

 

Great moments in live rock 'n' roll: Deep Purple, "Lazy," 1972

This was the best Deep Purple line-up, recorded live from a tour in Scandinavia after the Machine Head album:  Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, Jon Lord on keyboards, Ian Gillan on vocals.

 

Great moments in live rock 'n' roll: Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Killing Floor," 1969

Recorded in Stockholm, this is a pretty raw version of the blues classic, the one an unknown Jimi Hendrix played just three years before on a club stage in London, leading Eric Clapton to walk off after being upstaged:

 

Great moments in live rock 'n' roll: Chicago Transit Authority, "I'm a Man," 1969

Excellent footage of the whole band on this early performance for Beat Club in 1969, before legal threats by the actual CTA forced the band to shorten their name (big mistake by the actual CTA!).  Most of the band members had been students at DePaul University in Chicago.  Gives a nice sense of how good a guitarist the late Terry Kath was.

 

Great moments in live rock 'n' roll: Led Zeppelin, "How Many More Times," 1969

Zeppelin manager Peter Grant generally kept Zeppelin off television programs, but this is rare video of a live recording for a Danish radio program of one of Zeppelin's best blues-ripoffs--complete with Jimmy Page breaking out the violin bow:

 

Great moments in live rock 'n' roll: Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Free Bird," 1977

As long as we're on a Southern Rock theme, this performance of "Free Bird" at the Oakland Colosseum is basically the epitome of 1970s stadium rock.  Just a few months later, lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt and guitarist Steve Gaines (the one with the short beard) were killed in a plane crash.  Indeed, now the only surviving members of the band from that day are guitarist Gary Rossington (the one playing slide guitar) and drummer Artimus Pyle.  (That huge Confederate flag in the background is certainly jarring now, but it generated little controversy back then, although might have something to do with the striking racial composition of the audience!)