Regis Philbin - It's Time for Regis! (1968)

"Pennies from Heaven" by Regis Philbin

Concerning these many tour stops covering The Tonight Show (if you hadn't caught on yet,) Regis Philbin is the first to have no background in radio. His first job was in television—circa 1955—as a page for...Tonight and NBC. Regis went on to work as a local news anchor in San Diego for KOGO-TV, where in 1961 he got his first opportunity to host a talk show that was a nationally syndicated, short-lived and poorly reviewed replacement to The Steve Allen Show. After that was when Regis returned to Tonight to fill in as announcer for Hugh Downs. (Much later, he would take over for Hugh Downs again: this time in the Guinness Book of World Records for most time spent on air on network television.) Regis finally broke out becoming a household name in 1967 as the sidekick to Joey Bishop on The Joey Bishop Show. It was on one of these episodes when Regis was gifted the opportunity to sing "Pennies from Heaven" to his idol Bing Crosby. The next day after this impromptu, live television performance, he signed a record deal with Mercury Records leading to his 1968 debut album It's Time for Regis!

Regis sings what he knows and what he knows are songs from the Bing Crosby songbook. Despite the influence of his idol, Regis does not have a crooner's voice. It's higher pitched and better suited for faster tempos. His television experience and sense for the live audience make him less a Crosby impersonator, whose style was honed through the intimacy of radio and film, and more the inheritor of the vaudevillian tradition and performers like Al Jolson (especially audible on Southern-set songs like "Swanee" and "Mame" or Jolson classics like "Toot, Toot, Tootsie!") Throughout the whole album, Regis competes with the album's production. It's not that the production and Regis's voice are at odds (though their wills were,) but that the production is always in danger of outshining him. Helmed by Wrecking Crew veteran Steve Douglas, the album's sound runs on bass and brass and is bulwarked by a choral group; mixing nostalgic musical styles with a popular, buoyant maximalism. (Sometimes these qualities are juxtaposed in jarring ways as when, on "Swanee," a Motown intro suddenly gives way to minstrelsy banjos.) Douglas orchestrates to take the load of musical entertainment that Mercury and Douglas didn't trust Regis to deliver probably because he was untrained and inexperienced or because he wanted to be a crooner singing old popular songs in a time when they were no longer popular in a fashion that wasn't either. Regis actually performs well despite his limitations but he ends up on a record that floats toward the timeless past while being mercilessly pinned to the more dated sounds of 1968.

Nobody bought the record and nobody seemed to like it, including Regis. The negative reaction scared Regis from trying again (at least not for another thirty years,) and he stowed away the album as an embarrassment. But he treasured the experience, that made for a great story and a childhood dream fulfilled then put away.

Here is the discography surrounding Regis Philbin's debut album:

It's Time for Regis!

"Swanee" by Regis Philbin

Regis Philbin Singing to Bing Crosby on The Joey Bishop Show

Regis Philbin on Late Night with David Letterman

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Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers - Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers (1968)

"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" by Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers

Gladys Knight may have brought the Jackson family name to Motown, but that didn't make any difference for their career. The Jackson 5 continued to tour and heard nothing back from their first booster. In 1968 at the Regal Theater in Chicago, they ended up opening for Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers, a diverse R&B group that had just released their debut album Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers on the Motown subsidiary Gordy Records. According to Taylor, Michael followed him around whenever either weren't on stage for the duration of their gig. Impressed by The Jackson 5's work ethic and Michael's James Brown-inspired performances, he told them that he could get them a meeting with Motown. He followed through and brought them to Motown himself.

Bobby Taylor performed throughout the tumultuous early history of rock and roll and set to wax doowop, garage rock and R&B. By the time he and his band were discovered and brought to Motown from... Vancouver, they were ready to deliver a solid record.

Most of the album consists of covers but for a couple originals that includes their debut single "Does Your Mama Know About Me," a song that would've played nicely during the opening credits of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. While the singles are helped along with flowery production, the repertoire covers that make up the rest of the album are a fruitful mix of genres from Taylor's past: simple but effective garage rock drums; punctuating doo-wop harmonies; funky, melodic bass lines; the occasional psychedelic guitar touch; and the anchoring, soulful voice of Bobby Taylor. Taylor makes it all work and he carries each song as best he can while the delicate sonic balance is staged all around him.

Here is the discography for Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers:

The Move Around (1958 single by 4 Pharaohs)

Give Me Your Love (1960 single by 4 Pharaohs)

Give Me Your Love (1960 single by Columbus Pharaohs)

Seven Steps to an Angel (1961 single by Bobby Taylor with Charlie and The Jives)

Too Much Monkey Business (1965 single by Little Daddie and The Bachelors)

Come On Home (1965 song by Little Daddie and The Bachelors)

Without Love (1967 single by Ronnie Taylor)

Does Your Mama Know About Me (1968 promo single)

Does Your Mama Know About Me (1968 single)

Malinda (1968 single)

Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers

I Am Your Man (1968 single)

In Bed (1969 single by Wes Henderson)

How Insensitive (1973 single by The Jury)

"It's Growing" by Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers

"I Am Your Man" by Bobby Taylor and The Vancouvers

"Come On Home" by Little Daddie and The Bachelors

Pass the Headphones!!

Ill Wind - Flashes (1968)

"People of the Night" by Ill Wind

Ken Frankel was a veteran musician by the time he decided to attend MIT as a biophysics graduate student.  He played rock and roll in high school then folk music with the likes of Jerry Garcia in Hart Valley Drifters.  At MIT, he returned to rock music forming a band with fellow graduate student Carey Mann.

Over the course of the band's early life, they settled on a name and a style that echoed the mix of folk, jazz, garage rock and psychedelia brewed in San Francisco.  Like the Bay bands, Ill Wind were skilled musicians and brought a different kind of psychedelia with their unique and dreamy amplifications.  But their version of the San Francisco Sound lacked grit or much complexity, smoothed down to be shapeless and inoffensive and, as a result, forgettable.  They released their only album Flashes in 1968 on ABC Records before departures led to Ill Wind's eventual abatement.

Here is the discography for Ill Wind:

High Flying Bird (1968 single)

Walkin' and Singin' (1968 single)

Flashes

"Walkin' and Singin'" by Ill Wind

"Dark World" by Ill Wind

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Ace of Cups - It's Bad for You But Buy It! (1968)

"Looking for My Man" by Ace of Cups

Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Ace of Cups were both managed by Ambrose Hollingsworth with Ron Polte taking over after a car crash turned Hollingsworth paraplegic.  The five-woman band played amongst the giants of the San Francisco acid scene but never got to expand their reputation outside of it.  The record labels and their manager could never swing the Cups a worthwhile record deal and touring outside of the Bay area was a non-starter for young women with filial obligations.

So, the Ace of Cups never released an album or even a single (in their first incarnation, anyway) and all the testament of their sixties sound can be found in the compilation album It's Bad for You But Buy It! released by Big Beat Records (with 1968 being the year the last recording on the record was set.)  The album is a grab bag of potential never refined.  At their best, they find a mix of genres (R&B girl groups, gospel, acid rock,...) that suit their skills and voices, but the surviving evidence on the albums has them repeating winning formulas too often and not quite finding other signs of sleeping hits or dizzying jams.  With the compilation album alone not enough to make their case for lost gems, the Ace of Cups's sixties reputations remains with those who witnessed them... like Jimi Hendrix who touted their guitarist (Mary Ellen Simpson) as "hell, really great."

Noted: Included in the discography is a recording by future-Cup Denise Kaufman with her high school band.

Here is the discography surrounding Ace of Cups's debut compilation album:

Boy, What'll You Do Then (1966 single by Denise and Co.)

Girls in the Garage (compilation song by Denise and Co.)

Girls in the Garage Volume 3 (compilation song)

It's Bad for You But Buy It!

"Gospel Song" by Ace of Cups

"Simplicity" by Ace of Cups

"Stones" by Ace of Cups

"Boy, What'll You Do Then" by Denise and Co.

Pass the Headphones!!

Quicksilver Messenger Service - Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968)

"It's Been Too Long" by Quicksilver Messenger Service

When Jefferson Airplane was in need of a drummer, they recruited Skip Spence, a guitarist from the early lineup of Quicksilver Messenger Service, a band that rehearsed at Marty Balin's Matrix Club.  (Another source says Spence was actually a member of the garage rock band The Other Side when called over to Airplane, but we'll stick with Quicksilver.)

Quicksilver Messenger Service formed haphazardly around misfits and jailbirds (for marijuana possession) into a psychedelic jam blues band.  Their brand of blues excelled when their extended jams sought to push the genre into a more psychedelic or hard blues direction, though they could just as easily lack in cleverness or inspiration within the same song.  Quicksilver's worst quality was that they lost all sense of the blues whenever either David Friedman or Gary Duncan started to sing, and their pop song craft was too weak to stand on its own in a jam session setting.

But I'm not being fair to the band because their debut LP Quicksilver Messenger Service (released in 1968 on Capitol Records) is actually very good.  The record does away with Quicksilver's reliance on the Blues in their live sets and focuses on a more contemporary pop sound anchored in the dueling guitars of John Cipollina and Gary Duncan, and it's a wonder what actually hitting your harmonies can do to help a song along.

But the album doesn't capture what Quicksilver's sound was trying to achieve in the live setting, a "new sound" sourced from jazz, folk and blues that, at this early stage of the band's lifespan, was only just an insoluble mix of blues and psychedelic pop with both components stronger apart than stirred together.

Also included on this tour stop is the garage rock band in which Gary Duncan and Greg Elmore started their recording career: The Brogues.

Here is the discography surrounding Quicksilver Messenger Service's debut album:

But Now I Find (1965 single by The Brogues)

Don't Shoot Me Down (1965 single by The Brogues)

Live in San Jose - September 1966 (live album)

Live at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 9th September 1966 (live album)

Live at the Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco, 28th October 1966 (live album)

Fillmore Auditorium - November 5, 1966 (live album)

Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, 4th February 1967 - Early Show (live album)

Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, 4th February 1967 - Late Show (live album)

Fillmore Auditorium - February 5, 1967 Live (live album)

Live at The Fillmore, San Francisco, 6th February 1967 (live album)

Live at the Winterland Ballroom - New Year's Eve 1967 (live album)

Live at The Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco, San Francisco, 4th April 1968 (live album)

Live at the Fillmore, June 7, 1968 (live album)

Revolution (1968 soundtrack album)

Dino's Song (1968 single)

Quicksilver Messenger Service

Stand by Me (1968 single)

Smokin' Sound (1968 live album)

The Hush Records Story (compilation album featuring The Brogues)

Unreleased Quicksilver Messenger Service: Lost Gold and Silver (compilation album)

"Dino's Song (Live at the Monterey Pop Festival)" by Quicksilver Messenger Service

"Acapulco Gold and Silver (Live at The Fillmore)" by Quicksilver Messenger Service

"But Now I Find" by The Brogues

Pass the Headphones!!

Little Joe - Little Joe Sure Can Sing! (1968)

"Got to Get You Into My Life" by Little Joe

When Royal Teens started falling apart with band members getting drafted or leaving the group for college, Bob Gaudio was convinced to abandon ship and join up with Franki Valli's outfit by mutual friend Joe Pesci.  Joe Pesci was a child actor and, at this point, a rock and roller.  In 1968, he released his debut album Little Joe Sure Can Sing! through Brunswick Records under his Little Joe moniker.

Fun Facts:  His first single, as Jonathan Marcus, featured backing vocals from Gaudio and The Four Seasons.  After this album, he teamed up with fellow future Scorsese character actor Frank Vincent to form a comedy duo as Vincent & Pesci.

Here is the discography surrounding Little Joe's debut album:

What About Me? (1966 single as Jonathan Marcus)

Little Joe Sure Can Sing!

Holiday (1968 single)

Can You Fix the Way I Talk for Christmas (1972 by Vincent & Pesci)

"Holiday" by Little Joe

"Can You Fix the Way I Talk for Christmas" by Vincent & Pesci

"Mad About You Baby" by Jonathan Marcus

Pass the Headphones!!

Tyrannosaurus Rex - My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows (1968)

"Hot Rod Mama" by Tyrannosaurus Rex


Yes recorded their second album at Advision Studios in London.  Advision was a top recording studio in the late sixties and seventies and one of the first with an eight-track machine.  An artist that took an early crack at the eight-track was the psych-folk band Tyrannosaurus Rex.  The duo released their debut album My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows in 1968 on Regal Zonophone Records.

Here is the discography surrounding Tyrannosaurus Rex's debut album:

The Road I'm On (Gloria) (1964 single as Toby Tyler)
All at Once (1964 song as Mark Feld)
The Wizard (1965 single as Marc Bolan)
Reality (1965 single as Marc Bolan)
Hippy Gumbo (1966 single as Marc Bolan)
The Third Degree (1966 single as Marc Bolan)
Debora(h) (1968 single)
My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows
The Beginning of Doves (1974 compilation album as Marc Bolan)
The Maximum Sound Session (1993 compilation as Toby Tyler)
The Beginning of Doves (2004 compilation album as Marc Bolan)

"Debora(h)" by Tyrannosaurus Rex


"Sarah Crazy Child" by Tyrannosaurus Rex


Pass the Headphones!!

Tomorrow - Tomorrow (1968)

"My White Bicycle" by Tomorrow


Davy O'List quit The Nice in the middle of production on Ars Longa Vita Brevis.  The remaining three members of the band started a search for a replacement guitarist but decided against having one at all.  One of the guitarists they tried out was Steve Howe, a virtuoso and graduate of the UK underground rock scene.  His first album appearance was with the psychedelic rock band Tomorrow, a group most notable for its live act and underground cultural cache.  They released their only album Tomorrow in 1968 shortly before breaking up.

Here is Tomorrow's complete discography:

Maybellene (1964 single by The Syndicats)
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright (1964 single by The Fairies)
Howlin' for My Baby (1965 single by The Syndicats)
On the Horizon (1965 single by The Syndicats)
Leave My Kitty Alone (1965 single by The Syndicats)
Don't Mind (1965 single by The Fairies)
Get Yourself Home (1965 single by The Fairies)
Time Is on My Side (1965 single as Four + One)
Stop! Wait a Minute (1965 single as The In Crowd)
That's How Strong My Love Is (1965 single as The In Crowd)
Finger Poppin' (1965 song as The In Crowd)
Why Must They Criticise (1965 single as The In Crowd)
Sha-La-La-La-Lee (1966 single as The In Crowd)
Am I Glad to See You (1966 single as The In Crowd)
My White Bicycle (1967 single)
Revolution (1967 single)
Christmas on Earth Continued (1967 live album)
Tomorrow
10,000 Words in a Cardboard Box (1968 single as The Aquarian Age)
50 Minute Technicolour Dream (1998 compilation album)
Live & Unreleased 1967 (2001 compilation album)

"Now Your Time Has Come" by Tomorrow


Live Set on The Beat Club in 1964 by The Syndicats (a pre-Tomorrow Steve Howe band)


Pass the Headphones!!

The Nice - Ars Longa Vita Brevis (1968)

"Little Arabella" by The Nice


When Bryan Ferry was forming Roxy Music, he put out several adds in music magazines to recruit musicians.  In response to the advertisement for "Perfect Guitarist," approximately 20 such Perfect Guitarists applied including Davy O'List and Phil Manzanera.  The most Perfect Guitarist, however, was O'List who had previously been a member of the pioneering progressive rock band The Nice.  Manzanera was liked well enough in his rehearsal that he was offered a job as a roadie, which he took.

O'List, however, quit Roxy Music soon after joining (replaced by the ready Manzanera) in a bit of history that echoes his departure from The Nice.  When he left then, The Nice were in the middle of recording their second album Ars Longa Vita Brevis which saw release in 1968 on the Immediate label.

Here is the discography surrounding The Nice's second album:

Ars Longa Vita Brevis
Brandenburger (1968 single)

"Ars Longa Vita Brevis" by The Nice


Pass the Headphones!!

Taj Mahal - Taj Mahal (1968)

"Leaving Trunk" by Taj Mahal


The Pointer Sisters and Taj Mahal's debuts both shared the same producer: David Rubinson.  Taj Mahal came to prominence as a member of the LA-area blues band Rising Sons.  The interracial band didn't end up getting very far despite critical acclaim, but it laid the groundwork for his debut Taj Mahal released in 1968 on Columbia Records.

Here is the discography surrounding Taj Mahal's debut album:

Candy Man (1966 single with Rising Sons)
Risings Sons Featuring Taj Mahal and Ry Cooder (1966 album with Rising Sons released in 1992)
I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate (1967 single)
EZ Rider (1967 single)
Taj Mahal
Statesboro Blues (1968 single)

"Checking Up on My Babe" by Taj Mahal


"Everybody's Got to Change Sometime" by Rising Sons


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Mickey Newbury - Harlequin Melodies (1968)

"Are My Thoughts With You" by Mickey Newbury


Townes Van Zandt established his career first as a dive bar singer-songwriter moving through the Texas circuit along with other troubadours of his ilk.  His fortunes changed when fellow songwriter Mickey Newbury suggested Van Zandt travel to Nashville where he was set up with producer Jack Clement to record.  Mickey Newbury released his debut album Harlequin Melodies also in 1968 with RCA Victor.

Here is the discography surrounding Mickey Newbury's debut album:

Lonely Place (1965 single)
There's a Time to Die (1965 single)
Any Way You Want Me (1966 single)
After the Rains (1966 single)
Dreamin' in the Rain (1967 single)
Weeping Annaleah (1968 single)
Harlequin Melodies
Got Down on Saturday (Sunday in the Rain) (1968 single)
The Queen (1968 single)

"Got Down on Saturday (Sunday in the Rain)" by Mickey Newbury


Pass the Headphones!!

Townes Van Zandt - For the Sake of the Song (1968)

"For the Sake of the Song" by Townes Van Zandt


When Steve Earle made his decision to become a singer-songwriter, he was influenced by his appreciation and love of the music of Townes Van Zandt.  So much so, that Earle moved to Houston to seek out Van Zandt.  For a time, Earle survived on couches and local bars and eventually met his hero and became his mentee of sorts.

Here is the discography surrounding Townes Van Zandt's debut album:

Waitin' Around to Die (1968 single)
For the Sake of the Song

"Waitin' Around to Die" by Townes Van Zandt


Pass the Headphones!!

The Move - Move (1968)

"Weekend" by The Move


The notorious manager for Small Faces was Don Arden who, throughout his career, managed several of England's top bands including Birmingham's The Move.

The Move are a sort of Birmingham supergroup.  Although the area boasted an inordinate number of young bands (most of them Beat in the shadow of The Beatles), very few of them had found success in recording contracts aside from a few singles here and there.  So, a number of the best local musicians (from the likes of The Vikings, The Nightriders, The Diplomats, and The Mayfair Set among many other bands) joined together to form a band bound to sign with someone.  It didn't hurt that they tried out an assortment of new ideas buffered by boundless, charismatic energy, as well.  The band's early lineup featured Carl Wayne (lead vocals), Roy Wood (lead guitar), Bev Bevan (drums), Ace Kefford (bass), and Trevor Burton (guitar) with all members adding to the harmonies.

Very quickly, The Move scored a residency with the Marquee Club in 1966 and an independent record producer Denny Cordell.  Their first single "Night of Fear" ran to #2 on the UK charts and their success would continue as their next three singles "I Can Hear the Grass Grow", "Flowers in the Rain", and "Fire Brigade" all ran to the Top 5.  Their debut album did not fare as well as 1968's Move only managed a disappointing #15 spot on the album charts and a middling critical reception.  The album maintained the psychedelic pop of the band's singles but added a little variety with goofy but faithful renditions of early rock and doo-wop standards.  They followed up the album with a few singles including the Hendrix-inspired though unsuccessful "Wild Tiger Woman" and their biggest hit, the #1 "Blackberry Way".

Here is the discography surrounding The Move's debut album:

Tell Me What You're Gonna Do (1963 single by Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders)
Please Mr. Postman (1963 single by Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders)

What a Sweet Thing That Was (1964 single by Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders)
What's the Matter Baby (1964 single by Carl Wayne and The Vikings)

Tossin' and Turnin' (1964 single by Danny King)
Here I Stand (1965 single by Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders)
Take My Hand (1965 single by Mike Sheridan's Lot)
This Is Love (1965 single by Carl Wayne and The Vikings)
My Girl (1965 single by Carl Wayne and The Vikings)
Pretty Things (1965 single by Danny King and The Mayfair Set)
Amen (1965 single by Danny King and The Mayfair Set)
Don't Turn Your Back on Me (1966 single by Mike Sheridan's Lot)
Birmingham Beat (compilation album by Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders / Mike Sheridan's Lot)
It's Only the Dog (1966 single by The Nightriders)

Love Me Right Now (1966 single by The Nightriders)
Night of Fear (1966 single)
I Can Hear the Grass Grow (1967 single)
Flowers in the Rain (1967 single)
Fire Brigade (1968 single)
Move
Wild Tiger Woman (1968 single)
Blackberry Way (1968 single)

It's So Nice to Come Home (1968 single by The Lemon Tree)

William Chalker's Time Machine (1968 single by The Lemon Tree)

Curly (1969 single)
Something Else from the Move (1969 Live EP)

For Your Love (1969 single by The Ace Kefford Stand)

Mummy (1976 single by Rockstar)

Ace the Face (2003 compilation album by Ace Kefford)

"Walk Upon the Water", "I Can Hear the Grass Grow", "Night of Fear by The Move, Live on Beat Beat Beat


"Fire Brigade" by The Move on Top of the Pops


Pass the Headphones!!

Joni Mitchell - Song to a Seagull (1968)

"Night in the City" by Joni Mitchell


The photographer behind the promotional and extra material that went with The Appletree Theatre album is Mark Roth.  He also did photography for Joni Mitchell's 1968 debut album Song to a Seagull.  Since middle school, Joni Mitchell was either painting or painting with words.  She naturally took to writing poetry at the insistence of an encouraging teacher and eventually made her poems into songs due to her love of all kinds of music.  Heavily influenced by the folk movement of the 30s and 40s, Joni busked, nightclubbed and coffee shopped her way from Saskatoon to Michigan to New York to California.  As she traveled, she lived.  She got married, then divorced, gave birth in secret and put her baby up for adoption, wrote songs for her contemporaries, wrote songs for Canadian national television, and was loved wherever she performed.  It was Byrdman David Crosby that whisked Joni away from New York to California to help secure her recording contract with Reprise and produce her debut LP.

Here is the discography surrounding Joni Mitchell's debut album:

Live at 47 Club (1968 live bootleg)
Night in the City (1968 single)
Song to a Seagull
Live at the Philadelphia Folk Festival (1968 live bootleg)

"Cactus Tree" by Joni Mitchell


"Born to Take the Highway" by Joni Mitchell


Joni Mitchell Interview


Pass the Headphones!!

The Appletree Theatre - Playback (1968)

"I Wonder if Louise Is Home" by The Appletree Theatre


The producer of Boston's eponymous album was John Boylan.  When John was younger, he and his brother, Terry Boylan, worked together to create a concept album Playback in 1968 as The Appletree Theatre off the Verve Forecast record label.  Together, they created a loose concept album about... well, I dunno, but it was organized like one with a prologue, three acts, and an epilogue.  The album humorously echoed many of the popular sounds and ideas of the time, taking notes from The Beatles, Frank Zappa, and Pink Floyd while implementing (among others) psychedelic rock, sunshine pop, jazz, and classical music into their sound.

Here is the complete discography for The Appletree Theatre:

Hightower Square (1967 single)
Playback

"Who do I Think I Am" by The Appletree Theatre


"Lotus Flower" by The Appletree Theatre


Pass the Headphones!!

Pandit Pran Nath - Earth Groove (1968)

"Raga Bhoopali" by Pandit Pran Nath


One of Terry Riley's teachers was Hindustani classical singer Pandit Pran Nath.  He is a teacher of the Kirana gharana (school) that taught the khyal genre of Indian classical music (with every gharana having its own particularities).  Pran Nath studied the form for over twenty years under his guru before being encouraged to leave the school to help extend and keep the form alive.  He started work in the thirties for All India Radio and also worked as a visiting professor at Mills College until his death.  He believed in the power of live performance and rarely recorded.  Pran Nath's first recordings was of two ragas released as Earth Groove in 1968.

Here is the discography surrounding Pandit Pran Nath's debut album:

Earth Groove

"Raga Asavari" by Pandit Pran Nath


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Jethro Tull - This Was (1968)

Pink Floyd gave the highlight performance for the first ever concert held at Hyde Park in London. The 1968 ticket also boasted three other young, talented bands of the time: Traffic, Fleetwood Mac, and Jethro Tull.

Jethro Tull officially formed in 1967, but Ian Anderson, the band's visionary, was active in Blackpudlian rhythm and blues bands since 1962 such as The Blades and The John Evan Band. These bands covered Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Wilson Pickett in their live sets, which they infused with a rough, edgy Rock. They also featured several artists that would later become members of Tull, but they remained in Blackpool when Anderson moved to London in search of more gigs.

Ian Anderson joined forces with Mick Abrahams to form Jethro Tull. Anderson played the flute (which he had recently picked up, forsaking his guitar), harmonica, and the piano. Abrahams added his skills on the guitar. The two shared the vocals. Clive Bunker on drums and Glenn Cornick on bass rounded out the group. From the influence brought on board by Mick Abrahams, Jethro Tull's style reflected a unique mix between blues-rock and jazz.

It took a while for the band to gain momentum, but they were eventually signed by the Ellis-Wright Agency. They released their first single "Sunshine Day" in February 1968. Their debut album This Was was released later that year on Island Records and was a strong showing of their style at the time. Although it was a relatively successful debut, Anderson and Abrahams would eventually clash on artistic differences. Abrahams felt the band was falling away from its blues-rock/jazz roots while Anderson wanted to push the band into the burgeoning progressive scene. "Love Story" would be the last single featuring Abrahams in the line-up.

Here is the discography surrounding Jethro Tull's debut album:

Live '66 (live 1966 recording as The John Evan Band)
Sunshine Day (1968 single)
A Song for Jeffrey (1968 single)
This Was
Love Story (1968 single)



If you have any suggestions for where the Musical History Tour should go next, give a shout. I'm open to anything as long as it follows an artist's chronological release history.

Randy Newman - Randy Newman (1968)

Alongside many other musicians such as Tom Waits, performing at The Troubadour night club in West Hollywood helped along Randy Newman's career. Listeners probably know him better now as a film composer, but he got his start in the recording industry. He began by writing songs professionally in 1960, but it wasn't until 1968 that he pulled off his first album Randy Newman.

You can tell after the first song ("Love Story (You and Me)") that Mr. Newman would eventually transition to movies. In fact, a majority of the songs on the album are heavily orchestrated with the help of about 75 session musicians. These songs are not often moved on by traditional pop/rock chords. Rather, they reflect the emotions and environment (sometimes "Mickey Moused") of the verse being sung with the underlying themes and melodies as a foundation. The other minority of the songs are the traditional pop songs. Stripped of the orchestra, Mr. Newman sticks to a simplified lineup of percussion, bass, piano, and guitar to perform blues-influenced tunes and a quick pop jaunt ("Beehive State").

Here is the discography surrounding Randy Newman's debut album:

Golden Gridiron Boy (1961 single)
Randy Newman



Remember to throw a few recommendations my way if you see a few good ones. I'm always looking for new artists to delve into that I normally wouldn't.