Herb Caen's only other "vocal performance" on record is on Richard Brautigan's Listening to Richard Brautigan where, on one track, we hear successive readings of the author's "Love Poem" including Caen's own. A collection of poetry readings, prose readings, and casual conversations: the album released in 1970 on Harvest Records.
Here is Richard Brautigan's discography:
Listening to Richard Brautigan
Richard Brautigan Interview
Listening to Richard Brautigan by Richard Brautigan
"Mama Told Me Not to Come" by Paul Frees (as W. C. Fields)
An impressionist and comedian from an early age on vaudeville and radio, Paul Frees found a natural home doing voices for animation. Frees was one of the many voice actors working on Rocky & Bullwinkle. He provided the voice for main baddy, Boris Badinov, and other minor characters.
He released a 1970 novelty comedy album Paul Frees and the Poster People where he sings popular songs in the voices of classic Hollywood actors like Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable, and Peter Lorre.
Note: Paul Frees was a prolific voice actor with many iconic characters. Not all his songs for these characters are included because I'll be treating those characters as their own "artists" with their own pages (like the last blog entry or even *hint* the next one).
Here is the discography surrounding Paul Frees's debut album:
Although I Dropped $100,000 (I Found a Million Dollars in Your Smile) (1962 song)
A Girl (1966 single)
No More Toymakers to the King (1970 song) Paul Frees and the Poster People
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head (1971 single)
Before he was the primary artist and songwriter for Tyrannosaurus Rex, Marc Bolan had dreams of great stardom but hadn't much traction. Through gall and talent, he hooked a manager in Simon Napier-Bell who most famously worked for The Yardbirds. Originally, Napier-Bell mulled over adding Bolan to The Yardbirds lineup. Instead, he decided to add him to another one of his bands, John's Children. Bolan brought to the outfit a catalog of ready-to-go songs which quickly became singles, but he was unhappy with the artistic direction of the band and left it after four months. Before Bolan even joined, the four-piece had already recorded a couple singles and an album, Orgasm,which was scheduled to release in 1967. The name of the album was a bit of a hang up, though, and delayed its release in the United States until 1970, well after the band had dissolved.
Here is the discography surrounding John's Children's debut album:
The Love I Thought I'd Found (1966 single)
Smashed! Blocked! (1966 single)
Just What You Want - Just What You'll Get (1967 single)
Desdemona (1967 single)
Live at the BBC (1967 radio session)
Midsummer Night's Scene (1967 single)
Come and Play With Me in the Garden (1967 single)
Come and Play With Me in the Garden (1967 EP)
Go-Go Girl (1967 single)
It's Been a Long Time (1967 single by Andy Ellison)
Fool from Upper Eden (1968 demo by Andy Ellison)
You Can't Do That (1968 single by Andy Ellison) Orgasm
A Midsummer Night's Scene (1989 compilation album)
Playing With Themselves (1990 compilation album)
Playing With Themselves (Vol. II) (1991 compilation album)
A Strange Affair (The Sixties Recordings) (2013 compilation album)
It took a while for Steve Howe to find a lasting band of which to be apart. Yes (previously visited) had the privilege of recruiting him after their founding guitarist Peter Banks left the band due to creative differences. Yes released their second album Time and a Word in 1970 on Atlantic Records. Although Howe joined the band around this time and was pictured on the back of the album, he did not actually play on it. Banks did.
Here is the discography surrounding Yes's second album:
Every Little Thing (1970 live album)
Sweet Dreams (1970 single) Time and a Word
Time and a Word (1970 single)
Something's Coming: The BBC Recordings 1969-1970 (compilation album)
Art Tatum was a must-see in Toledo when he was still a young talent. Jazz musicians always made sure to hear him play if they were passing through town. Jazz singer Adelaide Hall was the first to do anything more than just listen. She hired him as one of her piano accompanists for her world tour and had him play on a couple of her sides when he relocated to New York City.
Complicated by the fact that she divided her career between the United States and England, Adelaide Hall's recording career has not been well-compiled, so I can't say I've found or heard all she has to offer. She was also not very active during the era of the LP and it appears (again, not 100% sure) that the only LP with original recordings she released in her lifetime was That Wonderful, Yes Sir, That Marvelous Adelaide Hall. It was a collection of re-recordings of her most iconic songs released in 1970. (Note: Her compilation album history is mostly redundant so I only include two on this list).
Here is a partially completed discography of Adelaide Hall:
Creole Love Call (1927 single)
Chicago Stomp Down (1927 single)
I Must Have That Man (1928 single)
Rhapsody in Love (1931 single)
Too Darn Fickle (1931 single)
Baby Mine (1931 single)
Strange as It Seems (1932 single)
You Gave Me Everything but Love (1932 single)
I Must Have That Man! (1932 single)
I Must Have That Man! (1933 single)
Drop Me Off in Harlem (1933 single)
I'm in the Mood for Love (1936 single)
East of the Sun and West of the Moon (1936 single)
I'm Shooting High (1936 single)
After You've gone (1936 single)
There's a Lull in My Life (1937 single)
Stormy Weather (1937 single)
That Old Feeling (1938 single)
I Have Eyes (1939 single)
Deep Purple (1939 single)
A New Moon and an Old Serenade (1939 single)
Don't Worry 'Bout Me (1939 single)
Transatlantic Lullaby (1939 single)
Moon Love (1939 single)
Day In, Day Out (1939 single)
My Heart Belongs to Daddy (1939 single)
Serenade in Love (1939 single)
Where or When (1940 single)
Careless (1940 single)
Chloe (1940 single)
This Can't Be Love (1940 single)
Who Told You I Cared? (1940 single)
Mist on the River (1940 single)
All the Things You Are (1940 single)
Goodnight Again (1940 single)
Our Love Affair (1940 single)
Moon for Sale (1941 single)
Ain't It a Shame About Mame? (1941 single)
It's Always You (1941 single)
Yes, My Darling Daughter (1941 single)
I Hear a Rhapsody (1941 single)
I, Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much) (1941 single)
As if You Didn't Know (1941 single)
Minnie from Trinidad (1941 single)
Song of the Islands (1941 single)
I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire (1941 single)
A Sinner Kissed an Angel (1942 single)
Tropical Magic (1942 single)
My Devotion (1943 single)
Let's Get Lost (1943 single)
I Don't Want Anybody at All (If I Can't Have You) (1943 single)
Sophisticated Lady (1944 single)
There Goes That Song Again (1945 single)
Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen (1949 single)
Deep River (1949 single)
My Lord, What a Morning (1949 single)
Can't Help Loving that Man of Mine (1951 single)
How Many Times (1951 single)
Bluebird on My Shoulder (1960 single) That Wonderful, Yes Sir, That Marvelous Adelaide Hall
Hall of Fame (1992 compilation album)
The Adelaide Hall Collection 1927-1960 (2012 compilation album)
Adelaide Hall 1980 Interview
"I Got Rhythm" by Adelaide Hall
"I Can't Give You Anything but Love" by Adelaide Hall
Terry Gilliam knew Frank Zappa in California and was recruited with his girlfriend to act as a background voice on Absolutely Free. Gilliam would move to England to work as an animator and eventually join Monty Python. Monty Python would release audio recordings of their sketches and released their first album Monty Python's Flying Circus in 1970 on Pye Records.
Here is the discography surrounding Monty Python's debut album:
Cambridge Circus (1963 album with Cambridge Circus)
I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again (1967 album with I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again)
At Last the 1948 Show (1967 album with At Last the 1948 Show)
The Ferret Song (1967 single by John Cleese with the 1948 Show Choir) Monty Python's Flying Circus
"Buying a Bed" by Monty Python
"Self-Defence" by Monty Python
"The Four Sydney Lotterby's" by At Last the 1948 Show
Through Invictus Records, Parliament met and then collaborated with singer-songwriter Ruth Copeland. She co-produced Osmium with Clinton and co-wrote a couple songs for the album and a couple of singles, too. The collaboration with Parliament continued on Ruth Copeland's solo debut Self-Portrait where Clinton and others played as session musicians. The album is believed to have been recorded in the same period as Osmium and also released in 1970 on Invictus.
Here is the discography surrounding Ruth Copeland's debut album:
The Music Box (1969 single as New Play) Self Portrait
Funkadelic is the Siamese twin to another band called Parliament. Where one ends and the other begins is hard to tell. Historically, both are descendants of The Parliaments: the backing band became Funkadelic and the vocal group were rebranded as Parliament. That said, all ten members from both groups played in each group whether credited as official members or not. Parliament released their debut album Osmium also in 1970 on Invictus Records.
Here is the discography surrounding Parliament's debut album:
I Call My Baby Pussycat (1970 single as A Parliament Thang) Osmium
The Silent Boatman (1970 single)
Red Hot Mama (1971 single)
Breakdown (1971 single)
Come In Out of the Rain (1972 single)
Digital Underground's Shock G saw rap in the late eighties go in a more raw, fierce, and political direction. Mainstream rap was going Punk. Although he started his career in a similar vein, he shifted to take his style of rap in a different direction: funny, sexy, and playful. He found his blueprint in Funk, especially, in Parliament-Funkadelic, two bands he sampled often. Headed by George Clinton, P-Funk got its start as The Parliaments, a doo wop group that performed and evolved over the sixties, until Clinton started two bands from the original called Funkadelic and Parliament. Funkadelic released an album first in 1970 titled Funkadelic on Westbound Records.
Here is the discography surrounding Funkadelic's debut album:
Party Boys (1959 single as The Parliaments)
Lonely Island (1960 single as The Parliaments)
Heart Trouble (1965 single as The Parliaments)
(I Wanna) Testify (1967 single as The Parliaments)
All Your Goodies Are Gone (1967 single as The Parliaments)
Little Man (1967 single as The Parliaments)
Look What I Almost Missed (1968 single as The Parliaments)
Good Old Music (1969 single as The Parliaments)
A New Day Begins (1969 single as The Parliaments)
Music for My Mother (1969 single)
I'll Bet You (1969 single)
I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing (1970 single) Funkadelic
I Wanna Know if It's Good to You? (1970 single)
You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks (1971 single)
Testify! (2000 compilation album as The Parliaments)
"I Got a Thing, You Got a Thing, Everybody's Got a Thing" by Funkadelic
Mickey Newbury had his hand in the success of several of his contemporaries. Alongside Van Zandt, Newbury influenced the songwriting sensibilities of his friend Kris Kristofferson. He even helped his career get off the ground by convincing country artist Roger Miller to record Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" that would easily become the songwriter's most famous work. This eventually led to other artists covering his songs and, in time, to the release of Kris's debut album Kristofferson in 1970.
Here is the discography surrounding Kris Kristofferson's debut album:
Golden Line (1967 single) Kristofferson
To Beat the Devil (1970 single)
"Me and Bobby McGee" by Kris Kristofferson
"Just the Other Side of Nowhere" by Kris Kristofferson
"Best of All Possible Worlds" by Kris Kristofferson
While the other members of Organisation went off to university, Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter continued performing together as the newly christened Kraftwerk.
Along with drummers Andreas Hohmann and Klaus Dinger, Kraftwerk became one of the defining acts of the krautrock movement. On their Kraftwerk debut album in 1970, Schneider (flute, synthesizers, electroviolin) and Hütter (organ, synthesizers) developed an experimental sound that meanders through different sonic ideas from instrumental sound design to drum-driven psychedelia. The players have an improvised, jazz feel to their performances where each musician slowly builds off of motifs introduced by the others. The album was produced by Conny Plank.
Here is the discography surrounding Kraftwerk's debut album:
Konrad "Conny" Plank helped Grobschnitt produce their eponymous record, which makes sense because, as producer, Plank had his fingertips all over the krautrock scene including the work of one of the earliest krautrock outfits, the experimental quintet Organisation.
Actually, the band was named Organisation zur Verwirklichung gemeinsamer Musikkonzepte, or the "Organization for the Realization of Common Music Concepts", but they digressed. The band formed in 1967 and included Ralf Hütter (organ), Florian Schneider-Esleben (flute, violin, percussion), Basil Hammoudi (glockenspiel, percussion), Butch Hauf (bass, percussion), and Alfred "Fred" Mönicks (percussion). Organisation released only one album in 1970 titled Tone Float on the British label RCA Victor, but it failed to sell prompting their drop. The band disbanded with most of the members opting to attend university.
Here is the complete discography for Organisation:
In the opening of the first song of The Kick Inside, Kate Bush sampled humpback whale songs recorded by Dr. Roger S. Payne. Roger Payne studied the echolocation of bats and owls before switching to studying whales with an idea towards conservation. With Scott McVay in 1967, Payne discovered the "complex sonic arrangements" used by the humpback whales to communicate during breeding season. In 1970, Payne released an album of his field recordings and, in doing so, helped fuel the conservation movement to ban commercial whaling.
Here is the discography surrounding Dr. Roger S. Payne's debut album:
The departure of Mick Abrahams left a glaring absence in the guitar slot of Jethro Tull's lineup. It was promptly (though briefly) filled by a young guitarist Tony Iommi. He was a member of the band long enough to be featured in "The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus" (see Jethro Tull video clip) but left soon after due to leadership disagreements with Ian Anderson. Iommi then rejoined his old band Earth, which would rechristen itself as Black Sabbath.
Black Sabbath emerged from remnants of two fractured Aston bands. Tony Iommi (guitar) and Bill Ward (drums) came from the band Mythology while "Ozzy" Osbourne (vocals, harmonica) and Geezer Butler (bass) survived the band Rare Breed. The four merged in 1968 to form The Polka Tulk Blues Band, which would become Earth and finally Black Sabbath. They toured the West Midlands originally envisioning themselves as a heavy blues band, but as the band progressed in skill and style they began moving into uncharted territory. In particular, the ominous sound produced by the musical tritone and dark lyrics evident in their song "Black Sabbath" became the foundation for the sonic territory the band wanted to go in (which was counter to the prominent flower-pop of the time).
Signing to Phillips Records in late 1969, Black Sabbath released their first single in January the next year. "Evil Woman", a Crow cover, failed to chart. Sabbath was subsequently allotted two days in the studio with producer Rodger Bain to record their debut. Doing what they could with the limited time and budget, the band played the album live with minimal overdubbing and few second runs. The album Black Sabbath was released very quickly on Friday the 13th of February 1970 to surprising commercial success (23 on the Billboard 200).
Critics were not as favorable at the time, saying the band was a poor imitation of Cream and the "the worst of the counterculture on a platter" (Robert Christgau). Although this early Black Sabbath does not stack up in skill to Cream, reviewers failed to see the eponymous album as nothing but an imitation instead of as the divergence to a new style of rock and roll. Since then, the critical reaction to Black Sabbath's debut has improved dramatically, ranking with the best and most important recordings of all time. Despite the lingering heavy blues influences, the album's muddy sound, dark lyrics, and fascination with the occult mark its historical importance as the de facto origins of heavy metal.
Here is the discography surrounding Black Sabbath's debut album:
1969 Demo
Evil Woman (1970 single) Black Sabbath
If you have a recommendation for what the next band in the Musical History Tour should be, please speak up.
