Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog

Great moments in rock 'n' roll covers: Black Pistol Fire, "Oh Well"

And here's a contemporary rock band covering, and putting a distinctive imprint, on the Peter Green classic:

 

Great moments in covers of "Oh Well": Johnny Gallagher, 2015

A great Irish blues guitarist does his brilliant solo version of this month's song:

 

Great moments in covers of "Oh Well": Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes

This may be the best version after the original:

 

Great moments in rock 'n' roll riffs: Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, "Oh Well," 1969

In 1968-69, the British blues band Fleetwood Mac, led by guitarist Peter Green, ruled the British charts, including with this number, which may be the best riff in the history of rock 'n' roll.  For May, I'll be featuring various covers of this tune, but here's the original (that's Green on vocals and doing the riff, while Danny Kirwan, whose career went to ruin in mental illness, drugs, and alchohol, is doing the lead):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Roy Young, "I'm a Loner," 1973

British rock musician who performed and recorded in many different genres over the course of nearly fifty years, although with not much success on this side of the Atlantic.  This was the b-side of a 1973 single:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Kleptomania, "Stop," 1971 (not released until 1979)

This Belgian hard rock outfit released various singles throughout the 1970s, and was a popular live act on the Continent, but never had much commercial success.  Various songs from a 1971 recording session, including this one, eventually appeared on an album released in 1979.

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Jeronimo, "Understanding," 1971

German hard rock band that had some success in Europe in the early 1970s.  This song is a bit atypical, and better than their standard fare (which I found a bit tedious):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Warhorse, "St. Louis," 1970

British hard rock band formed by ex-Deep Purple bassist Nick Simper, this was the single from their debut album (a cover of a song by The Easybeats):

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Sir Lord Baltimore," "Kingdom Come," 1970

Another tune from Brooklyn-bred proto-heavy metal band Sir Lord Baltimore, the tilte track of their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Stone Axe, "Snakebite," 1971

Houston-based hard blues rock outfit (split off from the band Josefus) that recorded several songs, including this heavy number:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Temple, "Triple Guitar," 1971

Dutch hard blues rock outfit from the early 1970s, this comes from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Good Rats, "Coo Coo Coo Blues," 1978

We haven't featured this Long Island, NY band in quite some time, but here's another favorite of mine, from their fourth album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Lucifer Was, "The Meaning of Life," 1971

Norwegian proto-heavy metal band, with progressive rock influences as well, they were active in the early 1970s; this song is representative:

 

Great moments in public boogie-woogie piano playing

By chance, I discoverd this whole YouTube genre of boogie piano players who record themselves playing in public places,like train stations, airports, and shopping malls.  Here's a few.

Henri Herbert:

Terry Miles:

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Buffalo, "Freedom," 1973

Here's another, heavier number from the second album of the Australian hard blues rock band, Buffalo that we featured a few weeks ago:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Poobah, "Rock 'n' Roll," 1972

Here's another tune from the Ohio hard rock band that never made it nationally; this is also from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Buffalo, "Suzie Sunshine," 1972

Australian hard rock outfit, this is from their debut album--I'm sure I'll be featuring more from them in the future.

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Sir Lord Baltimore, "Hard Rain Fallin'," 1970

Brooklyn-based proto heavy metal band, this song comes from their debut album, which just barely cracked the Billboard top 200.

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Trapeze, "Touch My Life," 1970

It's been awhile since we've featured this British blues/rock band; here's another good number from their second album Medusa:

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: the five best finds of 2018...

...in my opinion, anyway.  Glad to hear yours in the comments (click on the category, "Great Moments in Obscure Rock 'n' Roll" to see this year's selections).  Here's mine (with apologies to The Nazz, Bloodrock, Poobah, and The Frost, who almost made it):

Hawkwind, "Mirror of Illusion," 1970

Toad, "Vampires," 1972

Fat Mattress, "Black Sheep of the Family," 1969

Stepson, "Lil' Bit," 1974

Freedom's Children, "That Did It," 1971

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Hard Stuff, "Hobo," 1972

Guitarist John Du Cann and drummer Paul Hammond left the Atomic Rooster to form this very good, but short-lived melodic hard rock outfit, which enjoyed some modest success in the U.K.  This is a great tune from their first album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Poobah, "Mr. Destroyer," 1972

Youngstown, Ohio hard rock/heavy metal outfit (think Black Sabbath) led by guitarist Jim Gustafson.  They had a big Ohio following, but thanks to bad luck and lack of smart management, never made it nationally or internationally.   Hard to understand why this song, from their debut album, isn't a standard of "classic rock" radio, for example:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Freedom's Children, "That Did It," 1971

South African band, almost entirely unkonwn outside the homeland, they began as a psycedelic band in the late 1960s, gradually transforming into a hard rock/progressive band in the 1970s.   Here's a representative tune from that period:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: The Apryl Fool, "April Blues," 1969

Japanese psychedelic blues band, recorded one album, from which this instrumental comes:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Tomorrow, "My White Bicycle," 1967

British psychedelic band (featuring, among others, future Yes guitarist Steven Howe), this tune (later covered by Scottish hard rock band Nazareth in the 1970s) comes from their debut album:

 

Great moments in obscure rock 'n' roll: Bob Seger System, "Noah," 1969

Long before he became a 1970s rock icon, Bob Seger was a local Detroit sensation, who earlier in 1969 scored a top 20 hit with this song; this was the title number from his second (and very unsuccessful) album--another song very much of its moment!

 

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: