Vanilla Fudge – Vanilla Fudge (1967)

I first heard the music sometime in the Summer of Love, but then I heard so much music back then that it was just one more American rock group.  But something must have stuck, maybe the name, but I came across this album with it’s psychedelic cover in a record shop in the early Seventies.  First thing I did, which we all did back then, was to turn the sleeve over and read the back cover.  And I saw these song titles which I knew, including two Beatles songs and a memory came back of a song, maybe ‘You Keep Me Hanging On’ that I had heard a few years earlier – but it was slower and dreamy.  They slowed down rock but kept it pretty heavy….and so I bought the record and, as they say, was blown away.  It was a favourite for quite a time.

Van Morrison – Astral Weeks (1968)

Ivan (Van the Man) Morrison is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter; in the late 50s and early 60s he was in several bands in Belfast before scoring a huge hit with Them and the song ‘Gloria’. Like many of the Artists to emerge in the Sixties he grew up listening to black singers, especially the blues of Muddy Waters and Leadbelly – but on hearing Lonnie Donegan singing ‘Rock Island Line’ he became a convert to Rock and Roll.  In 1964 he joined four other Belfast musicians and formed a new group calling themselves ‘Them’.  They had 3 hit singles, biggest of which was ‘Here Comes The Night – ‘Gloria’ was a ‘B’ side and a live favourite.  The band broke up in ’66 and his then manager persuaded Van to go solo.  He recorded a few songs – one of which ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ has gone on to be one of the most played songs on radio.  But contractual difficulties meant he had difficulty getting a contract until Warner Brothers bought him out and he was given the space to write and release this great album.  ‘Astral Weeks’ was a slow-burner and gradually achieved acclaim and is reckoned as among his best ever albums.  The record is mostly acoustic and quite jazz infused.  It is apparently a song-cycle, the lyrics are free-form poetry and at times listening you suddenly realise this is actually a different song though you were almost hypnotised by the flow of the voice and the music.  For me the two really stand-out tracks are ‘Cypress Avenue’ and ‘Madame George’.  I have never really understood what Van was singing about – but it doesn’t matter.  The latter is nearly 10 minutes long but achieves a state of timelessness whenever I hear it.  A remarkable album indeed, and miles ahead of it’s time.

U2 – Boy (1980) An Irish band formed in ’76 by Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton started as a quite edgy post-punk band but went on to incredible World-wide fame and are regarded as one of the most influential of Groups of the late 20^th Century.   Their sound was always dominated by The Edge’s ringing and rhythmic guitar and Bono’s passionate vocals but they incorporated the blues, heavy rock, disco and even jazz into what was usually a recognisable U2 sound.   They would go on, especially after their great Live Aid set to become one of the biggest bands of the last Century.  Best on this debut are ‘I Will Follow’, ‘The Electric Company’ and ‘Shadows and Tall Trees’

Travis – The Man Who (1999)

I don’t know much about this Scottish group formed in the mid-nineties, except that the lead singer is Fran Healey.  They seem to have come out of nowhere and similarly disappeared – but that belies a truth; they had been knocking around for almost a decade with a couple of name and personnel changes before the huge success of this, their second album actually, arrived.  Their next was almost as huge and subsequent albums have sold well – though none as huge as this one.  I stopped following the charts in the early 90’s and reading magazine such as Uncut, and Mojo a good decade ago, so only occasionally to do I get a whiff of ‘Popular’ music.  Like millions I bought this record with it’s huge single ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me’ – which has become a staple of MOR radio.  I bought the follow-up too – but then for some reason stopped; maybe my attention span was too short, or other more obscue artists took over; I do have a tendency to move on when Artists achieve commercial success.  Best on this are ‘Wriring To Reach You’, ‘Driftwood’ and ‘As You Are’.  Relistening reminds me how very good they actually were.

The Turtles – Present The Battle of The Bands (1968)

A secret pleasure of mine has always been the perfect ‘pop song’ and few have been able to match the brilliance of this band who were far bigger in America than here; in fact in ’68 they outsold The Beatles over there.  They ran into legal problems in 1970 and were forbidden to release music under their own or the band’s name.  Lead singers Mark Kaylan and Howard Volman became Flo and Eddie and joined Zappa’s Mothers for a couple of years before releasing a handful of great albums as the duo.  This album by the group, not their first – but hey, is I think their best.  It is a pastiche of talent contests and the band play all the songs in different styles and by different groups.  Not really a concept album but a great idea.  As well as the big hit ‘Elenore’ my favourites are ‘Food’, ‘You Showed Me’ and ‘Oh, Daddy’.  Playing this record always makes me happy – which is always worth doing.

Jethro Tull – Thick As A Brick (1972)

Not their first album – but the first one I bought, after seeing them perform it live, plus a few other songs back in 1972 itself.  I had heard of them but never really was that intrigued to buy them – too many other brilliant albums to buy I suppose.  But I went to see them, at Hammersmith Odeon I think, and loved them.  The impish figure of Ian Anderson standing on one leg playing his flute and the occasional descent into pretty hard rock interspersed with almost medieval semi-classical and lyrical tunes.  A great contrast and all really the creation of Anderson.   I went and bought the album the next day and discovered that it was actually a complete newspaper purporting to celebrate the epic poem by twelve year old Gerald Bostock.  There were bizarre stories and even sports reports – a complete ‘Monty Pythonesque’ skit.  It made no sense and was never intended to; I think it was Anderson’s response to the in-vogue ‘concept album’ – as both album and cover had no concept.  The music itself, and it is largely instrumental is complex and brilliant.  But you either loved it or dismissed it as prog-rock excess.  It has remained a personal favourite of mine.  I have bought quite a few Tull albums, but none quite compare to ‘Brick’.

KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope (2004)

KT (Katie) is a Scottish singer songwriter very much in the traditional mode; she would have been just as at home in the 70s or 80s as in this Century – which is probably why I like her. No flashy production, no dance grooves, no bursts of rapping or guest singers – just plain but good quality playing and songwriting – not a bad voice either.  I bought her first three albums starting with this classic.  Apparently a last minute cancellation led to a surprise debut of the song ‘Black Horse and the Cherry Tree’ on Later with Jools Holland – which was an almost instant success and came just as this album was being released.  The album went to number three in the UK and has sold well ever since -the most popular of her records.  Never seeming to seek fame, and quite outspokenly critical of the state of modern music she has solidly ploughed her furrow.  Best on this are opener ‘Other Side Of The World’, ‘Universe and I’ and ‘Suddenly I See’ – great songs.  

Traffic – Mr. Fantasy (1967)

I didn’t even have a record player when this was released, I listened to the radio and caught glimpses of my musical heroes on TOTP or Ready Steady Go.  This band were all in local Birmingham groups, most famous was singer and guitarist Steve Winwood who had been in ‘The Spencer Davis Group’ who had already had a few hits.  Formed in April ’67 the band recorded this debut in the Autumn and released it just before Christmas of the same year.  Things moved fast back then, recording was quick and most bands released at least one album a year.  Incredibly the album didn’t contain their three big hit singles released over that Summer of Love – ‘Paper Sun’, ‘Hole In My Shoe. And ‘Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush’.  This was quite common in those days, as it was considered to be a rip-off to make fans buy the same song twice.  But the album was simply brilliant anyway, best songs were ‘No Name, No Face, No Number’, ‘Coloured Rain; and ‘Dear Mr. Fantasy’.  This band along with the Beatles were really the English psychedelic phenomenon of that famous Summer.  The band had a string of albums, best of which was ‘Welcome To The Canteen’ until Steve finally left in 1974, though he had tried leaving before in ’69 when he formed ‘Blind Faith’.   The band folded but had a brief reunion.  For those of us who lived through that summer this band were fantastic. My fondest memory was dancing with Jane Sarginson to Mulberry Bush at a youth club dance which ended in a kiss and a sexy walk home.  Ah memories… 

Pete Townshend – Who Came First (1972)

The Who were always a volatile mix; originally the band was Daltreys but Pete became the main songwriter and driving force during the late 70s.   Strangely Pete was quite happy, or so it seemed to let Roger sing his songs, he obviously had that powerful voice and didn’t write songs himself.  Going through a rough patch in 1970 and 71 Pete was drifting into alcohol and drugs and was struggling with his next concept album ‘Lifehouse’, which has never really been achieved.  He had sought spiritual contentment in the teachings of an Indian mystic Meher Baba.  Many of the songs Pete had conceived for ‘Lifehouse’ were completed by the band and released as the brilliant ‘Who Came First’.  But Pete decided to release some demos and a handful of other tracks on his first solo release, cleverly titled ‘Who Came First’ and featuring a photo of Pete suspended over a layer of eggs, and dedicated to his guru.  And what an album it was, very different, much gentler and actually Pete has a good voice himself.  Opener ‘Pure and Easy’ is a demo which became a huge number performed by the band; here it is a much folkier song – but still awesome.  There is a cover of ‘There’s A Heartache Following Me’, a country classic popularised by Jim Reeves – because Pete says it was Baba’s favourite song.  But strangely it sits comfortably here.  My personal favourites are ‘Content’, ‘Evolution’ and the prayer ‘Parvardigar’.  A strange and haunting record which mystified the Who fans but I loved it; I have bought a few Townshend albums over the years, they are all excellent.