On this day in music history . . . . ..  didn't buy this when it came out but my wife when we started to 'step out' together had an interesting record collection. I realised she had all of Cat Steven's albums at the time (3) Neil Young albums up to and including 'Harvest' and Elton John records including 'Madman Across The Water' this song was played all over and whatever we may now think about dear Reg Dwight his ability to write a pop song to someone else's lyrics remains peerless

On this day in music history: April 10, 1970 - “Elton John”, the second album by Elton John is released in the UK (US release date is on July 22, 1970). Produced by Gus Dudgeon, it is recorded at Trident Studios in London in January 1970. It is John’s first album release in the US since his actual debut release “Empty Sky” is issued stateside until 1975. It marks the beginning of a long and highly successful working relationship with producer Gus Dudgeon who produces all Elton John’s albums through 1976, then working together again in the mid 80’s. Though the album initially gets off to a slow start, live performances on television and on the concert stage help establish the young singer, songwriter and musician, becoming his breakthrough release. It spins off two singles including “Border Song” (#92 Pop) and “Your Song” (#8 Pop), and earn a Grammy nomination for Album Of The Year in 1971. It is remastered and reissued in 1995 with three additional bonus tracks. The album is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2012. “Elton John” peaks at number five on the UK album chart, number four on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

Wonderfully studious article/thesis from Willard's Wormholes this morning about the Led Zeppelin copywriter infringements and lifting of musical influences, plain stealing in some cases and so well put together really worth checking out.

ZEPPELIN TOOK MY BLUES AWAY Trading Cards – An Illustrated History Of Led Zeppelin’s Copyright Indiscretions! + A 25-Track Various Artists Collection CD

April 8, 2017 – 22:15

FROM 2014: They’re one of rock’s greatest bands. They’re also one of rock’s worst… when it comes to properly crediting their sources of inspiration. Led Zeppelin’s many incidents of copyright infringement are legendary. There are those who have called it outright theft, and have sworn in a court of law that Led Zeppelin (primarily Jimmy Page and Robert Plant) have repeatedly taken credit for writing music that wasn’t their’s to take credit for. And, many of those cases have been vindicated. Of course… this is not to take away from Led Zeppelin’s greatness; the amazing arrangements, renditions, covers, interpretations, performances and history they’ve created and been a part of. But, the truth is they’ve become rich partly from royalties they were never entitled to. Jimmy Page was uncharacteristically candid on the subject when he spoke to Guitar Player Magazine in 1993, downplaying his own culpability while simultaneously throwing his partner, Robert Plant, under the bus. “I always tried to bring something fresh to anything that I used. I always made sure to come up with some variation. In fact, I think in most cases, you would never know what the original source could be. Maybe not in every case – but in most cases. So most of the comparisons rest on the lyrics. And Robert was supposed to change the lyrics, and he didn’t always do that – which is what brought on most of the grief. They couldn’t get us on the guitar parts of the music, but they nailed us on the lyrics. We did, however, take some liberties (laughs), I must say.” Note that Page says, “Robert was supposed to change the lyrics…” which might accidentally say a lot more about their process than Page intended.

INSTRUCTIONS: CLICK EACH CARD BELOW FOR A NEW POP-UP PAGE!Trading Card #1 is below, to illustrate what you’ll find with each card. Click for a pop-up enlargement. Streaming players of the songs are provided for comparisons. Collect Them All! (plus a bonus card)!

TRADING CARD #1: Jake Holmes (Click For A Pop-Up Enlargement)

LED ZEPPELIN “Dazed And Confused” 1969

JAKE HOLMES “Dazed And Confused” 1967


CLICK THEM ALL!
  

click a card, any card… PLUS…
Zeppelin Took My Blues Away (2014)
25 Tracks Led Zeppelin Took To The Bank

Many of these tracks, which form the basis for quite a number of Led Zeppelin’s earlier recordings, have found their way onto “Roots Of” Zep collections before, so this gathering is nothing new. Many already know this story, and these songs, but those that haven’t stayed abreast of the decades of abuse Zep has endured for their costly “borrowing” from others just might be shocked at what they hear on this collection. Of course, musicians borrow from each other all the time. Zeppelin were just way too blatant about it, and way too often took the credit (and royalties) for themselves. And, depending on how you slice it, this is only the half of it. On its own, this is a fun, mostly old blues collection made up of all the original songs heard on these pages… with a strangely familiar twist.

THANKS: check it out here Willards Wormholes Zep cards

well just because . . . . . . . it's Saturday and it's SUNNY!

• Mambo Number 5
• Perez Prado
• Il Re Del Mambo

Mambo #5 | Perez Prado

ALSO on this day . . . . . . . . 

On this day in music history: April 5, 1968 - James Brown performs at the Boston Garden in Boston, MA. The concert takes place the day after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. The city of Boston, along with many other major cities across the US sees major rioting as people express their anger and grief at the loss of the civil rights leader. At the behest of Boston’s mayor Kevin White, Brown makes a televised plea for the rioting to stop. His concert is broadcast live on local PBS television station WGBH in Boston, and is immediately rebroadcast after the live telecast. People are moved to stop rioting to stay home and watch the concert. The original concert “Live at the Boston Garden: April 5, 1968” is released on DVD in August of 2008. The landmark show is also commemorated in a documentary produced by PBS and VH1 titled “The Night James Brown Saved Boston”.

Extraordinary scenes! . . . . . . . .  Following the 'cod' collapsing which I always really enjoyed and can remember the first time I saw James get draped with his glitter jacket and be carried off only to reappear and be dragged back by the sounds, here the crowd gets a little unruly for understandable reasons but check out the Godfather control the crowd. Truly extraordinary!

another from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog

TRACY CHAPMAN

On this day in music history: April 5, 1988 - “Tracy Chapman”, the debut album by Tracy Chapman is released. Produced by David Kershenbaum, it is recorded at Powertrax in Hollywood, CA in Late 1987 - Early 1988. The young singer/songwriter is brought to the attention of record executive Charles Koppelman (The Entertainment Company, SBK Music) by his son Brian who is a student at Tufts University where Chapman is also attending school. Chapman works with veteran producer David Kershenbaum (Joe Jackson, Supertramp) on her first release. A number of producers pass on working on the project, not sharing Chapman’s vision of how the songs should be arranged and produced. The album is a huge critical and commercial success upon its release, spinning off three singles including “Fast Car” (#6 Pop), and “Baby Can I Hold You” (#48 Pop). Chapman also wins three Grammy Awards for the album including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist in 1989. “Tracy Chapman” spends one week at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 6x Platinum in the US by the RIAA. 
another from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog

Here's another album we bought when it came out and Tracy's debut blew us all away. It was however surpassed later by subsequent album tracks too and there are tracks dotted around her entire output that match this in terms of heartfelt contemporary blues and this includes the following 'Give Me One Reason' but check out the vid of her with the master B.B. King ' The Thrill is Gone' too! AWESOME stuff and if she didn't somehow quite live up to her early potential it wasn't for lack of talent. 

One of the first great call holler blues that influenced me no end 'Death Letter Blues' from the legendary Son House . . . . possibly from a new occasional series of classic blues songs that influenced me from the age of about 13 onwards, Big Bill Bronzy, Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt et al

DUDU PAKWANA

From the wondrous Aquarium Drunkard comes this tribute!

Some For Dudu :: A Dudu Pukwana Companion

“If he plays a gig in some club, it’s the talk of the town for the whole year. Who can afford to pay for so much entertainment?… Well, for those who do not know Dudu Pukwana, he is the heaviest of the heaviest alto saxophone players and for many of us coming from South Africa… THE TEACHER. Go on doing the BOOGIE Bra Dudza.” – Joe Malinga (liner notes, One For Dudu)

Here now, “Some For Dudu,” a celebration and glance at Pukwana: the teacher, the exile, the saxophonist, the front man, the collaborator, the pianist, the singer and shouter; two hours of calm, frenzy, jazz and beyond.

I first came across the work of Dudu Pukwana via Mike Heron's solo album 'Smiling Men With Bad Reputations' which was never off my turntable when it came out and the sax and piano [apparently?] took a hold of me not least the extraordinary name and I have always liked his phrasing on the saxophone ever since. Check this it is REALLY worth a listen! Extraordinary joyful rhythmic and jazz at its very best!

JIMMY CLIFF!

Nearly forgot this one . . . . . . Born on this day: April 1, 1948 - Reggae music icon Jimmy Cliff (born James Chambers in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica). Happy 69th Birthday, Jimmy!!

againanother from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog

This album 'The Harder They Come' was an important release for me and possibly the first real Reggae album I bought. I had purchased 'Put it On, It's Rock Steady' with Bob and the Wailers doing the title track but that was very much Rock Steady and not Reggae so much as the names indicate. Steve, my brother had bought some earlier Bluebeat (Ezz Reco I think) but this was a towering album with so many tracks that have stayed with me. Despite somehow as memory serves that we couldn't get to see the film for some reason. I went to school with the actor and legendary DJ David 'Ram-Jam' Rodigan who is still going strong in the field, so we had heard a lot of this early Ska and Reggae through him. From Rude Boy Londoner the Cuban born Laurel Aitken, the naughtiest Prince Buster, Ken Boothe to Bob Marley and Toots and The Maytals. Also I grew up with my best and longest standing friends with the family of Percy Lewis the boxer and his sons Leo and Leon, introduced me to Calypso and Trinidadian Steel band music plus Soca from early bands like Mighty Sparrow, Lord Kitchener and earlier sounds like Mento which I love also. This album however, though influenced by those folks, was the first I bought with my own pocket money after 'Put It On' and remains a favourite for Jimmy, Desmond Dekker's 007 and The Melodians original version of 'The Rivers of Babylon' 

Reggae N'yah Mahn!

BLUE MOON!

On this day in music history: April 3, 1961 - “Blue Moon” by The Marcels hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks, also topping the R&B singles chart for 2 weeks on the same date. Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, it is the biggest hit for the Pittsburgh, PA doo wop vocal group. Originally written in 1934 by songwriting legends Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (“The Lady Is A Tramp”, “My Funny Valentine”, “Mountain Greenery”), the song makes its debut in the MGM film “Manhattan Melodrama”. “Blue Moon” go on to be a pop vocal standard covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, and Elvis Presley. Signed to Columbia Pictures’ Colpix Records, The Marcels are paired with producer Stu Phillips for their first recording sessions for the label. “Moon” is recorded as an afterthought during the last eight minutes of studio time. A promotion man for Colpix receives a tape copy of The Marcels version from Phillips who immediately passes it on to prominent DJ Murray The K at WINS in New York City. Murray The K loves the track so much that he plays it twenty six times in one show! Public reaction is instantaneous, and Colpix rush releases it as a single. Entering the Hot 100 at #87 on March 6, 1961, it leaps to the top of the chart three weeks later. The Marcels version “Blue Moon” has a long life after its original run on the charts. The song is featured in the John Landis directed horror film “An American Werewolf In London” in 1981. “Blue Moon” is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

another from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog

I first heard this classic doo-wop number live by Sha Na Na at Reading Festival way back when . . .the first one? 1971 I think! And they came on stage dressed in skin tight sliver lame (some of the guys really shouldn't have!?) and said 
" We got just one thing to say to all you fuckin' hippies! That is that Rock 'n'Roll is here to stay!" 

I was hoooked! Hilarious but note perfect and practiced as any band then and more than many. Here's  an original that they made their own as a cover . . . . . . .Wunnerful stuff!

THIS IS POP!

On this day in music history: March 31, 1978 - “London Town”, the sixth album by Wings is released. Produced by Paul McCartney, it is recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Air Studios in London and the Virgin Islands from February 1977 - January 1978. The bands first studio album since “Wings At The Speed Of Sound” two years earlier, sessions for the album begins in London in early 1977. Deciding that a change of scenery is necessary, the locale shifts to the Virgin Islands where the band record on a yacht equipped with a 24-track tape machine. It is during the recording of the album that drummer Joe English and lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch both quit Wings, leaving Paul, Linda and Denny Laine to finish the album on their own. Recording is further delayed when Linda discovers that she is pregnant with she and Paul’s son James (born on September 12, 1977). It spins off three singles including “With A Little Luck” (#1 Pop) and “I’ve Had Enough” (#25 Pop). The album track “Girlfriend” is covered by Michael Jackson on the album “Off The Wall” in 1979, also being released as a single in the UK. Original vinyl pressings of the album are packaged with a poster. “London Town” spends six weeks at number two on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

another from Jeff Harris' wonderful music blog