Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Open Mind, "Magic Potion," 1969

British psychedelic band active from the late 1960s into the early 1970s.  This song is very much of its moment!

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Tin House, 'Endamus Finallmus,' 1971

We haven't featured this short-lived Florida hard rock/blues band in some time, but here's another fine number from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Grand Theft, 'Ben the Rat Meets Led Zeppelin,' 1972

This raw power trio emerged from Mercer Island in the state of Washington, to record one wild album and then disappear.  This is the closing track:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Jo Jo Gunne, 'Run, Run, Run,' 1972

This Los Angeles band had a top forty hit with this song from their debut album in 1972; I'd never heard it, however, until recently:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Stepson, 'Back to Bama' and 'Turnpike,' 1974

Two more good rockin' numbers from last week's discovery, Portland's Stepson.  First, their tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis, "Back to 'Bama":

 And another fine rocker, "Turnpike":

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Stepson, 'Lil' Bit,' 1974

This Portland-based hard rock/blues band recorded but one album, from which this great rocking number comes (the whole album is worth a listen):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Street, 'Multilevular Conversational Tightrope Walkin' Shoes,' 1968

This may be the most unusual title of a rock song in history, but it's also a decent tune.  It's the lead number from the debut album of the NYC-based and loosely "psychedelic" band Street, featuring female lead singer Anya Cohen (this was, after all, the era of the Jefferson Airplane, with Grace Slick, and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin):

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: May Blitz, 'Smoking the Day Away,' 1970

Another short-lived hard rock/blues band from Britain (some members were Canadians, but the band formed in the UK), this number from their debut album is representative:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Family, 'Peace of Mind,' 1968

We haven't featured anything from the great English psychedelic/progressive band "Family" in quite some time, so here's a number from their debut album, Music in a Doll's House, which I recommend in its entirety:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Fat Mattress, "Black Sheep of the Family," 1969

Noel Redding may be best-known as the bassist with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but he fronted several bands of his own, including Fat Mattress, a folk-rock-psychedelic band he formed in 1969 where he played guitar, his original instrument.  This song never made it on either of the two albums they originally released, but was featured on a later anthology.  It is certainly representative of their style:

 And here they are on Beat Club performing a song from their second album in 1970, "Naturally":

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Long John Baldry, "It Ain't Easy," 1971

With our summer excursion into the African-American blues roots of rock 'n' roll concluded, let's pick up with the Canadian-English blues singer "Long John Baldry," who had more success in the UK than on this side of the Atlantic.  This blues-tinged tune is the title track of his 1971 album, his most successful in the US (and will no doubt call to mind Leon Russell, who enjoyed more success in the U.S.):

 

 

Great moments at the foundations of rock 'n' roll: Robert Johnson, a selection of his songs

I will conclude my summer series on some of the great African-American blues musicians and composers who laid the foundation for all the best rock 'n' roll with probably the most famous of them all:  Robert Johnson (1911-1938).  We'll start with the "Cross Road Blues" from 1936, made famous for a later generation by Cream:

 Next up, "Love in Vain," made famous for white audiences by the Rolling Stones:

Great moments at the foundations of rock 'n' roll: Mississippi John Hurt, a selection of his songs

John Hurt (1892-1966) was a sharecropper and handyman for most of his life, before being rediscovered during the 1960s "folk music revival."  His striking visage excudes a quiet and gentle dignity.  His influence can be seen more in certain aspects of folk rock, or in bands like the Grateful Dead and Hot Tuna.  Here's a selection of his best performances.  We'll start with the 1928 recording of "Frankie," during his aborted attempt to make a career as a performer:

The later recordings all come from the period of his rediscovery and fame starting in the early 1960s.  We'll start with a video of a live performance of his version of the traditional spiritual "You've Got to Walk that Lonesome Valley," which gives a nice sense of his distinctive guitar playing style:

Great moments at the foundations of rock 'n' roll: Bukka White, 'Parchman Farm Blues,' 1940

White, who died in 1977 (age 71 or 68, depending on the source), first began recording in 1930.  This may be his best-known song, which was popularized and rearranged by Mose Allison in 1959, which led to other versions by John Mayall in 1966, Cactus in 1970, and Johnny Winter in 1992, among others.  But here's the original:

 

 

 

Great moments at the foundations of rock 'n' roll: Tommy Johnson, "Canned Heat Blues," 1928

Tommy Johnson (1896-1956) (no relation to Robert Johnson) had a distinctive falsetto and proto-rock style of playing guitar.  This particular tune inspired the name of the 1960s band Canned Heat:

 

Great moments at the foundations of rock 'n' roll: Son House, "Death Letter Blues," 1965 performance

Son House (1902-1988) was first musically active in the 1920s through the early 1940s (he was an influence on both Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters), before being rediscovered in the 1960s and returning to performing.  (Here's a 1930 recording of the "Walkin' Blues.")   Here's perhaps the most famous video of him from the 1960s, an impassioned performance of the "Death Letter Blues."

 

Great moments at the foundations of rock 'n' roll: Blind Willie McTell, "You Was Born to Die," 1933

McTell (1898-1959) was a prolific performer and recording artist through the 1940s, though never had big "hits" of his own, though he became well-known enough to inspire a song by Bob Dylan.   Here's a lesser-known number from 1933 (lesser-known compared to his famous "Statesboro Blues"), one which, I suspect, Keith Richards studied carefully:

 

Great moments at the foundations of rock 'n' roll: R.L. Burnside, "Goin' Down South"

 Burnside (1926-2005), who learned to play guitar from Mississippi Fred McDowell, did not start recording until the 1960s, and kept performing well into old age (see, e.g., his performance of "Poor Black Mattie" in the 1980s); this is an early number:

 

Great moments at the foundations of rock 'n' roll: Mississippi Fred McDowell, "Goin' Down to the River"

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.  (I've occasionally noted examples before.)  For the remainder of the summer, I'll be featuring some of these gems, some familiar, others hopefully not.   We'll start with Mississippi Fred McDowell (the Rolling Stones made another of his songs famous to a new generation in the 1960s).

ADDENDUM:  Here's a short documentary from 1969 about McDowell (just a few years before his death), produced by the University of Mississippi.

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Toad, "Vampires," 1972

I've been enjoying the Swiss hard rock band Toad's entire second album, Tomorrow Blue (we featured one tune a couple of weeks ago), and here's another gem from that same album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Hawkwind, "Hurry on Sundown," 1970

Another tune from another recent discovery, this is the excellent lead number from the band's debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Toad, "No Need," 1972

A great number from the Swiss hard rock band introduced two weeks ago, this from their second album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Hawkwind, "Mirror of Illusion," 1970

This British band--a mix of psychedelic, blues, and progressive rock--had modest success in the UK (and continues to this day), but never made it in the US.  This is the great concluding number of their debut album, which will grow on you with each listen:

 UPDATE:  A couple of readers point out that Hawkind's bassist, "Lemmy," went on to later fame and fortune with Motorhead (for example).

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Toad, "Stay," 1971

The Swiss "Bad Company" one might say, a hard rock outfit, that never got much recognition outside the homeland, which is a shame.  Here's a number from their debut album that gives a good feel for the band:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Budgie, "Guts," 1971

e haven't featured the great Welsh heavy metal trio (who never made it in the U.S.) in quite some time; here's the lead track from their debut album:

 And as a bonus, below the fold, they perform in the studio their best-known number, "Breadfan":

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Frost, "Sweet Lady Love," 1969

Following up on last week's discovery of The Frost, this great tune appeared originally as the b-side of a single, before inclusion on the band's second album in 1970 (whose title song is surely their most famous number):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Frost, "Stand in the Shadows," 1969

Part of the late 1960s Michigan rock 'n' roll scene (that also gave us Grand Funk, Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes, the Stooges, the MC5, and the Bob Seger System), The Frost never found as much national success as the others with their mix of "garage rock" and psychedlic themes, as on this early number:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Bloodrock, "Cheater," 1970

Here's another from the great Bloodrock 2 album we first noted a few weeks ago:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Quill, "Too Late," 1970

This Boston-based band sounds like it could have come out of San Francisco; they performed at Woodstock and then released but one album, from which this likable tune comes:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Kahvas Jute, "Free," 1971

Here's another fine tune (the lead number from their 1971 album) by the Australian band that never made it outside the homeland:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Bloodrock, "Lucky in the Morning," 1970

Another great find from reader Richard Elliott in London, Bloodrock was a hard/progressive rock band out of Fort Worth, Texas that enjoyed some modest success, and one top forty hit, in the early 1970s.  This tune is the lead number from their second album, their most successful:

 

Great Obscure Rock 'n' Roll Albums: Leaf Hound, "Growers of Mushroom," 1971

In the annals of great unrecognized rock classics, none is greater than Leaf Hound's one and only 1971 album, which, happily, has found a new audience in recent years.  This is a gem from start to finish for fans of the hard rock/blues genre that Led Zeppelin made most famous:

 

Great Obscure Rock 'n' Roll Albums, Masters Apprentices, "Choice Cuts," 1971

The second remarkable album in our new series of obscure rock albums that somehow never made it into the "canon."  We've noted this Australian band before, but their entire 1971 album repays many listenings: 

 

Great Obscure Rock 'n' Roll Albums: Farm, "Farm," 1971

Over the next few weeks, I want to feature a few obscure rock 'n' roll albums rather than simply individual numbers; these are cases where the entire album is well-conceived and played, so much so that it's surprising it isn't part of the "classic rock" canon.  Farm was a Southern Illinois rock band in the style of the Allmann Brothers and Canned Heat.   Their one and only album is a tour de force from start to the spectacular "Let That Boy Boogie" finish:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Killing Floor, "Woman You Need Love," 1969

Yet another London-based "heavy blues" band, this is the lead number from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Flamin' Groovies, "Headin' for the Texas Border," 1970

Proto-punk band hailing originally from San Francisco, they never had much commercial success; this comes from their second album:

And, of course, being a band that originated in the mid-1960s, they had their own (rather good) version of "Shakin' All Over":

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Samuel Prody, "Woman," 1970

And now for something really obscure, so obscure I hadn't even heard it until this morning.  Another British hard rock/blues outfit; the lead singer, Tony Savva, sang with many other bands, before and since.  I'm still checking him and them out, so there may be more.

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Donovan, "Barabajagal," 1969

In the mid-1960s, Donovan was a sensation--the "Scottish Bob Dylan" some said--who enjoyed a string of "top 5" hits ("Sunshine Superman," "Mellow Yellow, "Hurdy Gurdy Man").  This tune was his last (barely) top 40 hit in the U.S. (it did better in the UK).  He's backed by the members of the Jeff Beck Group here:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Spirit, "Animal Zoo," 1970

This California rock band enjoyed some modest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, before fading away.  They had one almost-top 20 hit in 1969, but their best album, I thought, was 1970's Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, from which this tune comes: 

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Lovin' Spoonful, "Till I Run With You," 1969

The band's last album, recorded after the departure of the driving creative force John Sebastian who had written their famous hits of the mid-1960s, included one moderately well-known single, but this tune was always my favorite:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush, "I'm a King Bee," 1978

The "Canadian Jimi Hendrix," Frank Marino, and his band Mahogany Rush were moderately well-known in the 1970s, but never really made it to superstardom, which was a shame, since Marino really was a fabulous guitar player; this clip is representative:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: James Gang, "Stop," 1969

Here's another number from their forgotten debut album from 1969, their great rendition and jam on "Stop" (we featured another version here, though I much prefer the James Gang take):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Nazz, "Open My Eyes," 1968

It's hard to believe this groovy tune, very much of its moment, couldn't even crack the Billboard top 100 back in 1968.   That's a young Todd Rundgren on lead guitar; ironically, the flip side, "Hello It's Me" became a big hit for Rundgren in the early 1970s. 

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Twink, "Ten Thousand Words in a Cardboard Box," 1970

Reader Robert Allen kindly tipped me off to a British psychedelic and proto-punk band I'd never heard of, The Pink Fairies, as well as their occasional drummer Twink, from whose solo album this intriguing psychedelic number comes (it grows on you, try it twice):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Livin' Blues, "L.B. Boogie," 1972

This Dutch blues-rock band was formed in 1967, and enjoyed their heyday (in Europe) in the late 1960s through the early 1970s, though a much different line-up continues to the present (they never broke through on this side of the Atlantic).  Here's their trademark "boogie" (great use of the harp!):

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Small Faces, "Red Balloon," 1969

Before Humble Pie, Steve Marriott rode to fame, especially in Britain (less so in the U.S.), with the Small Faces, though by 1969 their star was fading even in the U.K.  This great cover of the Tim Hardin tune comes from their last album (released after the band's official dissolution):

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Good Rats, "Tasty," 1974

Anyone in the New York City area, and especially on Long Island, in the 1970s who followed rock 'n' roll knew the "Good Rats," the "world's most famous unknown band," as they amusingly, and not inaccurately, billed themselves.  Rock, blues, jazz, pop all played a role in their eclectic output.  (I was sad to learn that lead singer and driving creative force Peppi Marchello died a few years ago.)  This is the title song from their second, and best, album:

 And here's another gem from that same album, "Back to My Music":

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Spencer Davis Group, "I Can't Get Enough of It," 1967

A teenage Stevie Winwood got his start with this British blues band, most-remembered for that staple of classic rock radio, "Gimme Some Lovin'" from 1966.  This tune (co-written by Winwood) was the flip-side of another Spencer Davis Group hit single, "I'm a Man," and was later re-recorded by Three Dog Night on their 1971 album Naturally (the "Joy to the World" album).  But here's the original:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Blue Cheer, "Believer," 1971

Blue Cheer, the psychedelic blues band out of San Francisco, is remembered, if at all, for their very good 1968 version of the "Summertime Blues," but by 1971 the personnel and the sound had changed; this was from their last album before calling it quits until the 1980s, when the group reformed:

 

Great moments in not-very-obscure rock 'n' roll: AC/DC, "It's a long way to the top if you want to rock 'n' roll," 1976

In light of the passing of AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young, here's my favorite song of theirs:

And one more for fun, from 1980  (though they recorded versions of the same song under different names many times--AC/DC had formula rock down):