This month, as with many other months lately, I haven't had time to do any substantial new music writing. One excuse I have this month is my new radio show. Since it's weekly and I have to do at least some of the recording myself (basically for the last few shows I've been recording my spoken parts and the songs, but someone else is taking care of the final editing and mixing), it's been taking up a fair amount of time, and of course I still have my regular parttime job and have had many other things going on, including giving a talk on censorship of Taiwanese popular music in the past century at a coffee shop and going to Taidong (Taitung) on the east coast to do more research on the popular music of the Taiwanese aboriginal people. I thought about posting lists of the songs I played on my radio show over the past month, but I'm more inclined to set up a separate avenue for doing that, as this is mostly an English-language blog and most of the songs I play are in one of the various Chinese languages (mostly Mandarin, sometimes Hoklo/Minnan, and occasionally Hakka) and even the songs in aboriginal languages, which make up a large proportion, often have only Chinese titles, since tradtionally aboriginal songs didn't have set names and the record companies would just give them titles in Chinese. I could theoretically translate the titles, but I don't have time to do that. So instead I'm doing what I've done more than once before and pulling out an old compilation that I did many years ago and just posting its tracklist here. This one is at least fairly appropriate, because as it happens in my radio show for this week and next (the latter has already been recorded), I played covers of classic Taiwanese songs, mostly aboriginal but also some non-aboriginal, by contemporary artists, then played original or early versions of the same songs from decades earlier for comparison. This particular composition of songs by legendary bluesman Robert Johnson is organized similarly, in this case with his version coming first, followed by a much later recording of the same song by a well known artist.
Of course some of Johnson's most famous admirers are present here, such as Eric Clapton (on his own and with Cream and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers) and the Rolling Stones, along with later blues artists like Muddy Waters and B.B. King (the later doing a song that was reworked and popularized by fellow bluesman Elmore James), but also more suprising artists like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (doing the atypical Johnson song "They're Red Hot"). While Cream's version of "Crossroads" is the best known cover here, there are a lot of other interesting ones, and each artist has a completely different take on Johnson's songs. The compilation also included a couple of Johnson songs without corresponding cover versions (the final one, "Terraplane Blues", is said to be the one regional hit song Johnson had in his brief lifetime), plus three extra tracks by Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe and Lead Belly, all three also being songs that have well known versions by other artists. The Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe song of course was covered by Led Zeppelin. The Lead Belly songs were not original to him, having been around since at least the beginning of the 20th century. The first, also known as "In the Pines", was most prominently covered by Nirvana, who was apparently largely following Lead Belly's version. The second is best known as "The House of the Rising Sun" and has been covered by numerous artists under that title and others.
I've included the orginial track details (and a brief list of additional Johnson covers) that I wrote back when I put this together, with a few edits. I wrote them under the assumption that the readers actually had the CD to listen to, and recognized the songs. While I can't make that assumption here, I imagine most of these tracks can be heard on YouTube (my apologies for not having time to provide links).
The Robert Johnson Legacy
1 Cross Road Blues Robert Johnson 2:40
2 Crossroads Cream 4:15
3 Kind Hearted Woman Blues Robert Johnson 2:51
4 Kind Hearted Woman Muddy Waters 2:37
5 Ramblin' On My Mind Robert Johnson 2:52
6 Ramblin' On My Mind John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers 3:08
7 I Believe I'll Dust My Broom Robert Johnson 2:59
8 Dust My Broom B.B. King 3:21
9 Traveling Riverside Blues Robert Johnson 2:46
10 Travelling Riverside Blues Led Zeppelin 5:12
11 Walkin' Blues Robert Johnson 2:30
12 Walkin' Blues Eric Clapton 3:37
13 Love In Vain Robert Johnson 2:25
14 Love In Vain The Rolling Stones 4:22
15 Last Fair Deal Gone Down Robert Johnson 2:37
16 Last Fair Deal Gone Down Taj Mahal 2:39
17 Malted Milk Robert Johnson 2:22
18 Malted Milk Eric Clapton 3:36
19 They're Red Hot Robert Johnson 2:58
20 They're Red Hot Red Hot Chili Peppers 1:11
21 Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped The Devil) Robert Johnson 2:51
22 Terraplane Blues Robert Johnson 3:00
Bonus Tracks:
23 When The Levee Breaks Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe 3:11
24 Where Did You Sleep Last Night Lead Belly 3:02
25 New Orleans Lead Belly 3:17
Cross Road Blues
Recorded November 27, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Also covered by the Allman Brothers Band
Crossroads
From Wheels of Fire (1968)
Also contains lines from "Traveling Riverside Blues"
Kind Hearted Woman Blues
Recorded November 23, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Also covered by Johnny Winter and Eric Clapton
Kind Hearted Woman
Recorded in the late 1940s
From More Real Folk Blues (1967)
Ramblin' On My Mind
Recorded November 23, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Note the train sound effect
Ramblin' On My Mind
From Blues Breakers John Mayall with Eric Clapton (1966)
This is Eric Clapton's first lead vocal on record
I Believe I'll Dust My Broom
Recorded November 23, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Also covered by Elmore James, Howlin' Wolf, ZZ Top and many other bluesmen
Dust My Broom
Arranged by Elmore James
From B.B. King The Collection
Traveling Riverside Blues
Recorded June 20, 1937, Dallas, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Travelling Riverside Blues
Recorded June 24, 1969
From BBC Sessions
A studio version is available on the Led Zeppelin Boxed Set
This version contains several lines from "Kind Hearted Woman Blues"
This song was clearly the inspiration for Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song"
Walkin' Blues
Recorded November 27, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Also covered by Bonnie Raitt on her eponymous 1971 album
Walkin' Blues
From Unplugged (1992)
Love In Vain
Recorded June 20, 1937, Dallas, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Love In Vain
From Let It Bleed (1969)
Last Fair Deal Gone Down
Recorded November 27, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Last Fair Deal Gone Down
Recorded December 3, 1965
From Mojo Workin' - Blues for the Next Genenration
Malted Milk
Recorded June 20, 1937, Dallas, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
Malted Milk
From Unplugged (1992)
They're Red Hot
Recorded November 27, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
They're Red Hot
From Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
Preachin' Blues (Up Jumped The Devil)
Recorded November 27, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
This song has some of Johnson's fanciest guitar playing
Terraplane Blues
Recorded November 27, 1936, San Antonio, TX
From King of the Delta Blues
This was Johnson's most successful record in his lifetime,
selling several thousand copies
All songs written by Robert Johnson
Other covers of Robert Johnson songs:
Sweet Home Chicago (as "Baby Don't You Want to Go?") Tommy McClennan
(this was aupposedly the first Johnson cover, recorded in 1939)
When You've Got A Good Friend Johnny Winter
From Four Until Late Cream (from Fresh Cream)
Stop Breaking Down The Rolling Stones (from Exile on Main Street)
Come On In My Kitchen Allman Brothers Band
I'm A Steady Rolling Man Eric Clapton (from 461 Ocean Boulevard)
Bonus Tracks:
When The Levee Breaks (J. McCoy[Kansas Joe]/M. McCoy [Memphis Minnie])
Recorded June 29, 1929
From Mojo Workin' - Blues for the Next Genenration
Covered by a certain famous hard rock band
(though they did alter it a great deal)
Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Huddie Ledbetter [Actual authorship unknown, though it certainly predates Lead Belly])
Recorded February 17, 1944
From Goodnight, Irene
Covered by Nirvana and Kyle
New Orleans (J. Lomax/A. Lomax/G. Turner [Actual authorship unknown, though it definitely wasn't written by
John Lomax and his son Alan, who somehow got credited on Lead Belly's version])
From Goodnight, Irene
Covered by lots of people (mostly under another name, of course)
Showing posts with label Compilation Albums. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Compilation Albums. Show all posts
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
A Selection of Superstar Beatles Covers
Cover songs are looked down upon in some circles. This is to some degree due to the immense success of artists like the Beatles and Bob Dylan, who wrote the vast majority of their own songs, including all their major hit singles, setting a standard followed by rock bands and singer-songwriters since. Though of course there were quite a few performers who wrote some or all their own material before the Beatles era (Chuck Berry, for instance) and many songwriters performed on occasion (including greats like Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael), in the past it was quite normal for most singers to get their material from others. While this sometimes meant songs written particularly for them to sing, it was also common to perform songs that had already been recorded by others. Of course artists have continued to do this since Dylan and the Beatles, but the expectation had been created that the best, most genuinely creative singers and bands would come up with their own material. I'll admit to sharing this prejudice to some extent, in the sense that I am most impressed by artists who can both write good songs and perform them well. In part this is an interest in the creative side of music, so that I'm more inclined to focus on the writers of songs, whether we're talking Porter and the Gershwins from the early to mid 20th century, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller in the 1950s and 1960s, or Randy Newman in more recent decades, than their performers. However, not every great performer can be or even needs to be a great songwriter. Whether we're talking Ella Fitzgerald or Elvis Presley, there's no denying that many people who didn't write any songs are still among the most important artists in popular music. For that matter, many capable songwriters enjoy performing others' material from time to time. The Beatles themselves did a lot of covers, especially in their early years (their powerful cover of "Twist and Shout" is just one example), and the individual Beatles continued to perform cover songs throughout their solo careers. Dylan also did covers from time to time, and even artists that never did any on their studio albums, such as Queen and Genesis, played them in concert. Indeed, a good cover can be as much of a work of art as an original song. Some cover versions manage to surpass the originals, even by substantial margins, though this is of course a subjective judgment, partly influenced by how we're exposed to the song in the first place (for example, people often tend to be partial to the version they hear first, though that can change after repeated exposure to another version).
Sometime I may attempt to draw up my own comprehensive list of great covers, but for today I'm just going to introduce a CD of Beatles covers I put together many years ago. It includes both some very well known covers of Beatle songs and some that are fairly obscure, though the artists doing them are generally quite well known. This was actually only one of three I made at the time, and even after three I hadn't come close to including all the interesting Beatles covers out there (some years after I made these CDs, I picked up a book entirely dedicated to Beatles covers, and even that book, which mentions hundreds of covers, doesn't include all of those in existence). I originally sent the CDs without any track listings to several members of my family to challenge them to identify the performers. They did pretty well, considering that even though all (or nearly all) the artists are fairly famous, not all of them were people you'd necessarily expect to have covered the Beatles, and it's not always easy to identify performers by voice alone. In any case, one of my goals was to show the great diversity of artists who have covered the Beatles, and the wide variety in interpretations that exist. I may post the track lists for the other two CDs in the future, but just this one has a lot of great stuff.
Can't Buy Me Love Ella Fitzgerald
A Hard Day's Night Billy Joel
Yesterday Marvin Gaye
Help Tina Turner
In My Life Crosby/Stills/Nash
Taxman Stevie Ray Vaughan
Eleanor Rigby Ray Charles
Tomorrow Never Knows Phil Collins
Penny Lane Sting
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Jimi Hendrix
With a Little Help From My Friends Joe Cocker
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Elton John
The Fool on The Hill The Four Tops
Hey Jude The Temptations
Revolution Mike+The Mechanics
Obladi, Oblada Sting & Youssou N'Dour
Come Together Aerosmith
Across The Universe David Bowie
Sometime I may attempt to draw up my own comprehensive list of great covers, but for today I'm just going to introduce a CD of Beatles covers I put together many years ago. It includes both some very well known covers of Beatle songs and some that are fairly obscure, though the artists doing them are generally quite well known. This was actually only one of three I made at the time, and even after three I hadn't come close to including all the interesting Beatles covers out there (some years after I made these CDs, I picked up a book entirely dedicated to Beatles covers, and even that book, which mentions hundreds of covers, doesn't include all of those in existence). I originally sent the CDs without any track listings to several members of my family to challenge them to identify the performers. They did pretty well, considering that even though all (or nearly all) the artists are fairly famous, not all of them were people you'd necessarily expect to have covered the Beatles, and it's not always easy to identify performers by voice alone. In any case, one of my goals was to show the great diversity of artists who have covered the Beatles, and the wide variety in interpretations that exist. I may post the track lists for the other two CDs in the future, but just this one has a lot of great stuff.
Can't Buy Me Love Ella Fitzgerald
A Hard Day's Night Billy Joel
Yesterday Marvin Gaye
Help Tina Turner
In My Life Crosby/Stills/Nash
Taxman Stevie Ray Vaughan
Eleanor Rigby Ray Charles
Tomorrow Never Knows Phil Collins
Penny Lane Sting
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Jimi Hendrix
With a Little Help From My Friends Joe Cocker
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds Elton John
The Fool on The Hill The Four Tops
Hey Jude The Temptations
Revolution Mike+The Mechanics
Obladi, Oblada Sting & Youssou N'Dour
Come Together Aerosmith
Across The Universe David Bowie
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
Key Songwriters of the 1950s: Three Compilation CDs
This set of compilation CDs dates back ten years. There are three CDs, one featuring the songs of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, another collecting the songs of Otis Blackwell, and the third featuring covers of songs by Chuck Berry. The first two are mostly made up of the original recordings of the songs or at least notable early versions and for the most part date back to the 1950s, while the recordings on the third CD are mostly from the 1960s and 1970s (the originals were of course recorded by Chuck Berry himself). The notes below are the ones I originally wrote to accompany the CDs.
Is That All There Is? - The Songs of Leiber and Stoller
Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller*) Big Mama Thornton
Framed (Leiber/Stoller) The Robins
Riot in Cell Block #9 (Leiber/Stoller) The Robins
K.C. Lovin' (Leiber/Stoller) Little Willie Littlefield
Smokey Joe's Cafe (Leiber/Stoller) The Robins
L'Homme A La Moto [Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots] (Leiber/Stoller) Edith Piaf
Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller*) Elvis Presley
Love Me (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley
Searchin' (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters
Young Blood (Leiber/Pomus/Stoller) The Coasters
Jailhouse Rock (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley
Don't (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley
Yakety Yak (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters
King Creole (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley
Riot in Cell Block #9 (Leiber/Stoller) Wanda Jackson
Love Potion No.9 (Leiber/Stoller) The Clovers
Charlie Brown (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters
Kansas City [K.C. Lovin'] (Leiber/Stoller) Wilbert Harrison
Poison Ivy (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters
Saved (Leiber/Stoller) LaVern Baker
Stand By Me (King/Leiber/Stoller) Ben E. King
Three Cool Cats (Leiber/Stoller) The Beatles
I'm A Woman (Leiber/Stoller) Peggy Lee
She's Not You (Leiber/Stoller/Pomus) Elvis Presley
On Broadway (Leiber/Mann/Stoller/Weil) The Drifters
I (Who Have Nothing) (Donida/Leiber/Mogol/Stoller) Ben E. King
Some Other Guy (Leiber/Stoller/Barrett) The Beatles
Ruby Baby (Leiber/Stoller) Dion & the Belmonts
(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care (Leiber/Stoller) Queen
Is That All There Is? (Leiber/Stoller) Peggy Lee
*In addition to Leiber and Stoller, Thornton's bandleader Johnny Otis also initially received a credit as part of original publishing deal and later claimed to have helped write the song, though Leiber and Stoller denied this and their position was upheld in court. Thornton herself also claimed at one point to have had a hand in it, but later clarified that it was mainly a matter of her transforming it through her interpretation of the song. The Presley version had somewhat different lyrics from the original; the changes had been made by singer Freddie Bell of Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, whose version Presley learned (though he also owned a copy of the original), but Bell failed to claim credit for his new lyrics, not having gotten permission from Leiber and Stoller to change their song in the first place.
All Shook Up - The Songs of Otis Blackwell
Fever (John Davenport[Blackwell]/Eddie Cooley) Little Willie John
Don't Be Cruel (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley
All Shook Up (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley
It's No Lie (Blackwell) Gene Vincent
Paralyzed (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley
Great Balls of Fire (Blackwell/Hammer) Jerry Lee Lewis
Breathless (Blackwell) Jerry Lee Lewis
Just Keep It Up (Blackwell) Dee Clark
Hey Little Girl (Blackwell/Stevenson) Dee Clark
Handy Man (Blackwell/Jones) Jimmy Jones
Let's Talk About Us (Blackwell) Jerry Lee Lewis
Make Me Know It (Blackwell) Elvis Presley
Livin' Lovin' Wreck (Blackwell) Jerry Lee Lewis
(Such An) Easy Question (Blackwell/Scott) Elvis Presley
Return to Sender (Blackwell/Scott) Elvis Presley
One Broken Heart for Sale (Blackwell/Scott) Elvis Presley
Home in Your Heart (Blackwell/Scott) Otis Redding
Daddy Rollin' Stone (Blackwell) The Who
Fever (John Davenport[Blackwell]/Eddie Cooley) Peggy Lee
All Shook Up (Blackwell/Presley) Paul McCartney
Rock and Roll Music - The Songs of Chuck Berry
Roll Over Beethoven* ELO (1973)
Carol The Rolling Stones (1964)
Johnny B. Goode Jimi Hendrix
Rock And Roll Music The Beatles (1964)
Brown Eyed Handsome Man Buddy Holly
Memphis, Tennessee Elvis Presley (1965)
Come On The Rolling Stones (1963)
Little Queenie Jerry Lee Lewis
Sweet Little Sixteen** The Beach Boys(as "Surfin' USA")
Too Much Monkey Business The Beatles
You Can't Catch Me The Rolling Stones (1965)
You Never Can Tell Emmylou Harris (1977)
Back in the U.S.A. Linda Ronstadt
I Got To Find My Baby The Beatles
No Particular Place To Go George Thorogood
Around and Around The Rolling Stones
Havana Moon Carlos Santana
Johnny B. Goode Elvis Presley (1970)
Roll Over Beethoven The Beatles (1963)
Memphis, Tennessee The Animals
Brown Eyed Handsome Man Nina Simone
Too Much Monkey Business The Yardbirds
Sweet Little Sixteen The Beatles
Little Queenie (live) The Rolling Stones (1970)
C'est La Vie (You Never Can Tell) Bob Seger
All songs by Chuck Berry except:
*Words by Chuck Berry, Music by Chuck Berry and Ludwig van Beethoven
**Words by Brian Wilson, Music by Chuck Berry
This series of CDs collects songs by different songwriters who were prominent in the fifties. First, I'll discuss the Leiber and Stoller collection. Lyricist Jerry Leiber and composer Mike Stoller were the most successful songwriting team of the early rock and roll era, and played an important role in popularizing the rhythm and blues sound. Even before Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley started making records, Leiber and Stoller were writing songs for various R & B singers and groups. This CD only contains a few of these early tracks (most are somewhat difficult to find), but songs like "Hound Dog" and "K.C. Lovin'" are good examples of their early work, and their songs for the Robins introduced comedy rock and roll, a genre they continued to produce many songs in, particular with the later incarnation of the Robins, the Coasters ("Searchin'", "Yakety Yak", etc.). Aside from the Coasters, the other artist they had the most hits with was Elvis, starting with his remake of "Hound Dog", followed by "Love Me" and "Jailhouse Rock" and continuing on into the sixties. They also wrote for many other artists such as Ben E. King and Peggy Lee (one of my favorites is the song they wrote for LaVern Baker, "Saved").
Leiber and Stoller occasionally collaborated with other songwriters, particularly in the sixties when they were often too busy with production and other duties to concentrate on songwriting. "On Broadway", for instance, was written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (actually I probably shouldn't have included this one, as Leiber and Stoller just reworked the Mann/Weil original), "She's Not You" with Doc Pomus, and "Stand By Me" with Ben E. King. Another song which might have been a collaboration was "Hound Dog", as bandleader Johnny Otis claimed he helped write it, but he lost a court case over the rights. Leiber also worked without Stoller on occasion, most notably when he collaborated with Phil Spector on "Spanish Harlem", but here I've only included songs they both worked on.
In a few cases, the versions I've included here are not the originals. Since both versions of "Hound Dog" are distinctive and worth a listen they are both included here. Likewise, I included both the original "K.C. Lovin'" and Wilbert Harrison's remake entitled "Kansas City", since it was the latter version that was a big hit (in fact it's not unlikely that even the Beatles, who covered the song, never heard the original). Finally, while the Robins' version of "Riot in Cell Block #9" is the original classic, I decided the version from the "Queen of Rockabilly" Wanda Jackson was also worth including. In several cases I didn't have the original, so I included a later version, including "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" (the original was by The Cheers; here you get a French version by the famed singer Edith Piaf!), "Love Me" (originally recorded by Willy and Ruth, but Elvis made it a hit), "Three Cool Cats" (the Coasters), "Ruby Baby" (The Drifters), "Some Other Guy" (Richie Barrett, who co-wrote the song) and "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" (Elvis). The pair also wrote many other songs which don't appear here, some of which were sizable hits (e.g. the Drifters' "Drip Drop").
By the late sixties, Leiber and Stoller were no longer as hot as they had been a few years earlier, but they continued to write and had the occasional hit. The most notable of their later songs was the final song in this collection, "Is That All There Is?", written for Peggy Lee and covered by many other artists including P.J. Harvey. An interesting fact about the original (released in 1969) is that it was arranged and conducted by a young songwriter named Randy Newman, still a comparative unknown at the time (though he'd already written a few hits and released his first solo album).
Otis Blackwell was another key songwriter of the fifties, though he wasn't as prolific a hitmaker as the Leiber and Stoller team. Nevertheless, some of the greatest rock and roll classics were written or co-written by Blackwell, including "Fever", "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up", "Great Balls of Fire", and "Return to Sender". You will note that many of these were hits for Elvis, one artist that Blackwell had in common with Leiber and Stoller; in fact between the three of them, they wrote a large proportion of Elvis's classic hits, including some of the very biggest ones. Other than Elvis, however, Blackwell generally wrote for different artists than Leiber and Stoller. Ironically, Leiber and Stoller, who were white (Jewish, actually), wrote most of their songs for African-American artists, while Blackwell, who was black, wrote mostly for white artists.
Blackwell collaborated on many of his hits with other writers, such as Winfield Scott, Jack Hammer, Eddie Cooley and B.W. Stevenson. Though he had his greatest successes writing for other artists, he did occasionally record himself, one example being "Daddy Rollin' Stone", which was later covered by the Who (the version which appears here). He also made an album in which he recorded his own versions of his most successful hits for others.
When you first put on the Rock And Roll Music CD, and you hear Beethoven's Fifth, you might think at first that it's a classical music compilation. But after a minute, that Chuck Berry guitar comes in and you realize you're listening to ELO's cover of "Roll Over Beethoven", and what it is in fact a compilation of Chuck Berry covers. Chuck Berry, of course, was one of the most important artists of the rock and roll era. Unlike Leiber, Stoller, and Blackwell, he wrote songs for himself, not for others. But it is a tribute to the esteem in which he and his songs are held that they have been frequently covered by later rock artists.
Aside from ELO's brilliant mix of Beethoven and Berry on "Roll Over Beethoven", this CD includes covers of Berry songs by rock luminaries such as Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Carlos Santana. The Beatles and the Stones appear the most frequently, as both bands covered many Berry tunes -- not a big surprise considering they were all huge Chuck Berry fans (as I mentioned elsewhere, John Lennon once said "If you were going to give rock & roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."). "Come On", released in June 1963, was the very first Stones single, and they continued to frequently cover Berry songs on their albums. As for the Beatles, aside from the two Berry covers which appeared on their albums, they frequently did Berry songs in their BBC appearances.
There are of course many more Chuck Berry covers than I was able to fit on one CD, especially since certain classics have been covered multiple times. Some examples include the Beatles BBC performances of "Johnny B. Goode", "Memphis, Tennessee", "Carol", "Sweet Little Sixteen", and "Too Much Monkey Business", versions of "Johnny B. Goode" by Jerry Lee Lewis and the Grateful Dead, a live cover of "Little Queenie" by the Stones, the MC5's recording of "Back in the U.S.A.", Paul McCartney's cover of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" from his excellent rock and roll album Run Devil Run, and Levon Helm's cover of "Havana Moon".
Without Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Otis Blackwell, and Chuck Berry, not only would the world have missed out on many great songs, but rock and roll as we know it would not have existed. Their contributions to the popular music of America (and the rest of the world as well) were beyond price, as one listen to these CDs will show.
Is That All There Is? - The Songs of Leiber and Stoller
Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller*) Big Mama Thornton
Framed (Leiber/Stoller) The Robins
Riot in Cell Block #9 (Leiber/Stoller) The Robins
K.C. Lovin' (Leiber/Stoller) Little Willie Littlefield
Smokey Joe's Cafe (Leiber/Stoller) The Robins
L'Homme A La Moto [Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots] (Leiber/Stoller) Edith Piaf
Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller*) Elvis Presley
Love Me (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley
Searchin' (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters
Young Blood (Leiber/Pomus/Stoller) The Coasters
Jailhouse Rock (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley
Don't (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley
Yakety Yak (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters
King Creole (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley
Riot in Cell Block #9 (Leiber/Stoller) Wanda Jackson
Love Potion No.9 (Leiber/Stoller) The Clovers
Charlie Brown (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters
Kansas City [K.C. Lovin'] (Leiber/Stoller) Wilbert Harrison
Poison Ivy (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters
Saved (Leiber/Stoller) LaVern Baker
Stand By Me (King/Leiber/Stoller) Ben E. King
Three Cool Cats (Leiber/Stoller) The Beatles
I'm A Woman (Leiber/Stoller) Peggy Lee
She's Not You (Leiber/Stoller/Pomus) Elvis Presley
On Broadway (Leiber/Mann/Stoller/Weil) The Drifters
I (Who Have Nothing) (Donida/Leiber/Mogol/Stoller) Ben E. King
Some Other Guy (Leiber/Stoller/Barrett) The Beatles
Ruby Baby (Leiber/Stoller) Dion & the Belmonts
(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care (Leiber/Stoller) Queen
Is That All There Is? (Leiber/Stoller) Peggy Lee
*In addition to Leiber and Stoller, Thornton's bandleader Johnny Otis also initially received a credit as part of original publishing deal and later claimed to have helped write the song, though Leiber and Stoller denied this and their position was upheld in court. Thornton herself also claimed at one point to have had a hand in it, but later clarified that it was mainly a matter of her transforming it through her interpretation of the song. The Presley version had somewhat different lyrics from the original; the changes had been made by singer Freddie Bell of Freddie Bell and the Bellboys, whose version Presley learned (though he also owned a copy of the original), but Bell failed to claim credit for his new lyrics, not having gotten permission from Leiber and Stoller to change their song in the first place.
All Shook Up - The Songs of Otis Blackwell
Fever (John Davenport[Blackwell]/Eddie Cooley) Little Willie John
Don't Be Cruel (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley
All Shook Up (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley
It's No Lie (Blackwell) Gene Vincent
Paralyzed (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley
Great Balls of Fire (Blackwell/Hammer) Jerry Lee Lewis
Breathless (Blackwell) Jerry Lee Lewis
Just Keep It Up (Blackwell) Dee Clark
Hey Little Girl (Blackwell/Stevenson) Dee Clark
Handy Man (Blackwell/Jones) Jimmy Jones
Let's Talk About Us (Blackwell) Jerry Lee Lewis
Make Me Know It (Blackwell) Elvis Presley
Livin' Lovin' Wreck (Blackwell) Jerry Lee Lewis
(Such An) Easy Question (Blackwell/Scott) Elvis Presley
Return to Sender (Blackwell/Scott) Elvis Presley
One Broken Heart for Sale (Blackwell/Scott) Elvis Presley
Home in Your Heart (Blackwell/Scott) Otis Redding
Daddy Rollin' Stone (Blackwell) The Who
Fever (John Davenport[Blackwell]/Eddie Cooley) Peggy Lee
All Shook Up (Blackwell/Presley) Paul McCartney
Rock and Roll Music - The Songs of Chuck Berry
Roll Over Beethoven* ELO (1973)
Carol The Rolling Stones (1964)
Johnny B. Goode Jimi Hendrix
Rock And Roll Music The Beatles (1964)
Brown Eyed Handsome Man Buddy Holly
Memphis, Tennessee Elvis Presley (1965)
Come On The Rolling Stones (1963)
Little Queenie Jerry Lee Lewis
Sweet Little Sixteen** The Beach Boys(as "Surfin' USA")
Too Much Monkey Business The Beatles
You Can't Catch Me The Rolling Stones (1965)
You Never Can Tell Emmylou Harris (1977)
Back in the U.S.A. Linda Ronstadt
I Got To Find My Baby The Beatles
No Particular Place To Go George Thorogood
Around and Around The Rolling Stones
Havana Moon Carlos Santana
Johnny B. Goode Elvis Presley (1970)
Roll Over Beethoven The Beatles (1963)
Memphis, Tennessee The Animals
Brown Eyed Handsome Man Nina Simone
Too Much Monkey Business The Yardbirds
Sweet Little Sixteen The Beatles
Little Queenie (live) The Rolling Stones (1970)
C'est La Vie (You Never Can Tell) Bob Seger
All songs by Chuck Berry except:
*Words by Chuck Berry, Music by Chuck Berry and Ludwig van Beethoven
**Words by Brian Wilson, Music by Chuck Berry
This series of CDs collects songs by different songwriters who were prominent in the fifties. First, I'll discuss the Leiber and Stoller collection. Lyricist Jerry Leiber and composer Mike Stoller were the most successful songwriting team of the early rock and roll era, and played an important role in popularizing the rhythm and blues sound. Even before Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley started making records, Leiber and Stoller were writing songs for various R & B singers and groups. This CD only contains a few of these early tracks (most are somewhat difficult to find), but songs like "Hound Dog" and "K.C. Lovin'" are good examples of their early work, and their songs for the Robins introduced comedy rock and roll, a genre they continued to produce many songs in, particular with the later incarnation of the Robins, the Coasters ("Searchin'", "Yakety Yak", etc.). Aside from the Coasters, the other artist they had the most hits with was Elvis, starting with his remake of "Hound Dog", followed by "Love Me" and "Jailhouse Rock" and continuing on into the sixties. They also wrote for many other artists such as Ben E. King and Peggy Lee (one of my favorites is the song they wrote for LaVern Baker, "Saved").
Leiber and Stoller occasionally collaborated with other songwriters, particularly in the sixties when they were often too busy with production and other duties to concentrate on songwriting. "On Broadway", for instance, was written with Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil (actually I probably shouldn't have included this one, as Leiber and Stoller just reworked the Mann/Weil original), "She's Not You" with Doc Pomus, and "Stand By Me" with Ben E. King. Another song which might have been a collaboration was "Hound Dog", as bandleader Johnny Otis claimed he helped write it, but he lost a court case over the rights. Leiber also worked without Stoller on occasion, most notably when he collaborated with Phil Spector on "Spanish Harlem", but here I've only included songs they both worked on.
In a few cases, the versions I've included here are not the originals. Since both versions of "Hound Dog" are distinctive and worth a listen they are both included here. Likewise, I included both the original "K.C. Lovin'" and Wilbert Harrison's remake entitled "Kansas City", since it was the latter version that was a big hit (in fact it's not unlikely that even the Beatles, who covered the song, never heard the original). Finally, while the Robins' version of "Riot in Cell Block #9" is the original classic, I decided the version from the "Queen of Rockabilly" Wanda Jackson was also worth including. In several cases I didn't have the original, so I included a later version, including "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" (the original was by The Cheers; here you get a French version by the famed singer Edith Piaf!), "Love Me" (originally recorded by Willy and Ruth, but Elvis made it a hit), "Three Cool Cats" (the Coasters), "Ruby Baby" (The Drifters), "Some Other Guy" (Richie Barrett, who co-wrote the song) and "(You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care" (Elvis). The pair also wrote many other songs which don't appear here, some of which were sizable hits (e.g. the Drifters' "Drip Drop").
By the late sixties, Leiber and Stoller were no longer as hot as they had been a few years earlier, but they continued to write and had the occasional hit. The most notable of their later songs was the final song in this collection, "Is That All There Is?", written for Peggy Lee and covered by many other artists including P.J. Harvey. An interesting fact about the original (released in 1969) is that it was arranged and conducted by a young songwriter named Randy Newman, still a comparative unknown at the time (though he'd already written a few hits and released his first solo album).
Otis Blackwell was another key songwriter of the fifties, though he wasn't as prolific a hitmaker as the Leiber and Stoller team. Nevertheless, some of the greatest rock and roll classics were written or co-written by Blackwell, including "Fever", "Don't Be Cruel", "All Shook Up", "Great Balls of Fire", and "Return to Sender". You will note that many of these were hits for Elvis, one artist that Blackwell had in common with Leiber and Stoller; in fact between the three of them, they wrote a large proportion of Elvis's classic hits, including some of the very biggest ones. Other than Elvis, however, Blackwell generally wrote for different artists than Leiber and Stoller. Ironically, Leiber and Stoller, who were white (Jewish, actually), wrote most of their songs for African-American artists, while Blackwell, who was black, wrote mostly for white artists.
Blackwell collaborated on many of his hits with other writers, such as Winfield Scott, Jack Hammer, Eddie Cooley and B.W. Stevenson. Though he had his greatest successes writing for other artists, he did occasionally record himself, one example being "Daddy Rollin' Stone", which was later covered by the Who (the version which appears here). He also made an album in which he recorded his own versions of his most successful hits for others.
When you first put on the Rock And Roll Music CD, and you hear Beethoven's Fifth, you might think at first that it's a classical music compilation. But after a minute, that Chuck Berry guitar comes in and you realize you're listening to ELO's cover of "Roll Over Beethoven", and what it is in fact a compilation of Chuck Berry covers. Chuck Berry, of course, was one of the most important artists of the rock and roll era. Unlike Leiber, Stoller, and Blackwell, he wrote songs for himself, not for others. But it is a tribute to the esteem in which he and his songs are held that they have been frequently covered by later rock artists.
Aside from ELO's brilliant mix of Beethoven and Berry on "Roll Over Beethoven", this CD includes covers of Berry songs by rock luminaries such as Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Carlos Santana. The Beatles and the Stones appear the most frequently, as both bands covered many Berry tunes -- not a big surprise considering they were all huge Chuck Berry fans (as I mentioned elsewhere, John Lennon once said "If you were going to give rock & roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry'."). "Come On", released in June 1963, was the very first Stones single, and they continued to frequently cover Berry songs on their albums. As for the Beatles, aside from the two Berry covers which appeared on their albums, they frequently did Berry songs in their BBC appearances.
There are of course many more Chuck Berry covers than I was able to fit on one CD, especially since certain classics have been covered multiple times. Some examples include the Beatles BBC performances of "Johnny B. Goode", "Memphis, Tennessee", "Carol", "Sweet Little Sixteen", and "Too Much Monkey Business", versions of "Johnny B. Goode" by Jerry Lee Lewis and the Grateful Dead, a live cover of "Little Queenie" by the Stones, the MC5's recording of "Back in the U.S.A.", Paul McCartney's cover of "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" from his excellent rock and roll album Run Devil Run, and Levon Helm's cover of "Havana Moon".
Without Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Otis Blackwell, and Chuck Berry, not only would the world have missed out on many great songs, but rock and roll as we know it would not have existed. Their contributions to the popular music of America (and the rest of the world as well) were beyond price, as one listen to these CDs will show.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Thirty Favorite Soul and R&B Classics
So far on this blog I’ve written a lot about British rock bands like the Beatles, Queen and Genesis, but of course there’s a lot of other great music out there. One type of music which had a very big influence on artists like Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury and Phil Collins (among many others) is African American music like rhythm and blues and soul. These terms often are used to cover a pretty broad range of music, from the songs that served as the foundation for rock and roll to the music of artists like Prince and Erykah Badu. But for the following list I’ve stuck to the classic soul and R&B of the 1960s and early 1970s. This is by no means a comprehensive list of all the great songs in these genres, as most of these artists have a lot of other brilliant songs (I restricted myself to no more than two by any one artist), and there are plenty other important artists that I have to admit are missing from my collection (actually, even in this list there are a few songs I don’t actually own a copy of, though I want to get them all eventually). These are just the songs that came to mind when I was trying to think of some R&B and soul classics. I even included an example of so-called “blue-eyed soul”, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” by the Righteous Brothers, as in my opinion it is good enough to stand alongside the others.
Thirty Favorite Soul and R&B Classics
What'd I Say (Charles) Ray Charles (1959)
Money (That's What I Want) (Gordy/Bradford/Strong) Barrett Strong (1959)
You Really Got a Hold on Me (Robinson) Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1962)
Stand By Me (King/Leiber/Stoller) Ben E. King (1961)
A Change Is Gonna Come (Cooke) Sam Cooke (1964)
Dancing in the Street (Stevenson/Gaye/Hunter) Martha and the Vandellas (1964)
Under the Boardwalk (Young/Resnick) The Drifters (1964)
My Girl (Robinson/White) The Temptations (1964)
People Get Ready (Mayfield) The Impressions (1965)
The Tracks of My Tears (Robinson/Moore/Tarplin) Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1965)
You've Lost That Lovin’ Feeling (Spector/Mann/Weil) The Righteous Brothers (1965)
I Got You (I Feel Good) (Brown) James Brown (1965)
You Can't Hurry Love (Holland/Dozier/Holland) The Supremes (1966)
Respect (Redding) Aretha Franklin (1967)
Reach Out (I'll Be There) (Holland/Dozier/Holland) The Four Tops (1966)
When a Man Loves a Woman (Lewis/Wright/Sledge) Percy Sledge (1966)
You Keep Me Hangin' On (Holland/Dozier/Holland) The Supremes (1966)
I'd Rather Go Blind (Jordan/Foster/James) Etta James (1967)
I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Whitfield/Strong) Marvin Gaye (1968)
(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay (Redding/Cropper) Otis Redding (1968)
Think (Franklin/White) Aretha Franklin (1968)
Everyday People (Stewart) Sly & the Family Stone (1968'
War (Whitfield/Strong) Edwin Starr (1970)
What's Goin' On (Cleveland/Benson/Gaye) Marvin Gaye (1971)
Papa Was a Rollin' Stone (Whitfield/Strong) The Temptations (1972)
Ain't No Sunshine (Withers) Bill Withers (1971)
Higher Ground (Wonder) Stevie Wonder (1973)
If You Don't Know Me By Now (Gamble/Huff) Harold Melvin (1972)
Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2) (Isley/Isley/Isley/Isley/Isley/Jasper) The Isley Brothers (1975)
Sir Duke (Wonder) Stevie Wonder (1976)
Thirty Favorite Soul and R&B Classics
What'd I Say (Charles) Ray Charles (1959)
Money (That's What I Want) (Gordy/Bradford/Strong) Barrett Strong (1959)
You Really Got a Hold on Me (Robinson) Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1962)
Stand By Me (King/Leiber/Stoller) Ben E. King (1961)
A Change Is Gonna Come (Cooke) Sam Cooke (1964)
Dancing in the Street (Stevenson/Gaye/Hunter) Martha and the Vandellas (1964)
Under the Boardwalk (Young/Resnick) The Drifters (1964)
My Girl (Robinson/White) The Temptations (1964)
People Get Ready (Mayfield) The Impressions (1965)
The Tracks of My Tears (Robinson/Moore/Tarplin) Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1965)
You've Lost That Lovin’ Feeling (Spector/Mann/Weil) The Righteous Brothers (1965)
I Got You (I Feel Good) (Brown) James Brown (1965)
You Can't Hurry Love (Holland/Dozier/Holland) The Supremes (1966)
Respect (Redding) Aretha Franklin (1967)
Reach Out (I'll Be There) (Holland/Dozier/Holland) The Four Tops (1966)
When a Man Loves a Woman (Lewis/Wright/Sledge) Percy Sledge (1966)
You Keep Me Hangin' On (Holland/Dozier/Holland) The Supremes (1966)
I'd Rather Go Blind (Jordan/Foster/James) Etta James (1967)
I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Whitfield/Strong) Marvin Gaye (1968)
(Sittin' On) the Dock of the Bay (Redding/Cropper) Otis Redding (1968)
Think (Franklin/White) Aretha Franklin (1968)
Everyday People (Stewart) Sly & the Family Stone (1968'
War (Whitfield/Strong) Edwin Starr (1970)
What's Goin' On (Cleveland/Benson/Gaye) Marvin Gaye (1971)
Papa Was a Rollin' Stone (Whitfield/Strong) The Temptations (1972)
Ain't No Sunshine (Withers) Bill Withers (1971)
Higher Ground (Wonder) Stevie Wonder (1973)
If You Don't Know Me By Now (Gamble/Huff) Harold Melvin (1972)
Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2) (Isley/Isley/Isley/Isley/Isley/Jasper) The Isley Brothers (1975)
Sir Duke (Wonder) Stevie Wonder (1976)
Thursday, April 30, 2015
The Joni Mitchell Songbook (1967-2004)
A few months ago it was reported that Joni Mitchell had collapsed in her home and been rushed to the hospital. Today I read a more recent news report saying that she is still in the hospital, though there were conflicting accounts of how bad her condition is. In any case, as a sort of tribute to her I thought I’d post the track listing from a rather rough compilation of her songs as recorded by other artists. It’s not necessarily one of my best compilations, because I did it rather quickly and included pretty much every Joni Mitchell cover I had or could get ahold of, without taking a lot of time to select the very best recordings. Also, for many of these songs I prefer Mitchell’s own versions. But there are definitely some great classic recordings here, such as CSNY’s “Woodstock” (very different from Mitchell’s own version, and just as good) or Judy Collins’s “Both Sides Now” (a song that was even covered by singers like Frank Sinatra and Doris Day), and a lot of very interesting versions of some excellent songs (such as Dylan's version of "Big Yellow Taxi", a song more famously covered by Counting Crows and Amy Grant, Neil Diamond's version of "Free Man in Paris", or Nazareth's hard rock version of "This Flight Tonight"). The great variety of artists shows how widespread Mitchell’s impact has been, an impact that goes beyond the world of music (just to take one example, Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former US President Bill Clinton and prospective future US President Hillary Rodham Clinton, was named for Mitchell's song "Chelsea Morning"). Someday it’d be nice to do a more comprehensive overview of Mitchell’s songs, but I’d have to listen to a lot more of her albums first (at present I only have a compilation album and Blue, though I’ve heard parts of other albums elsewhere), but for now, I will just wish her a quick recovery.
The Joni Mitchell Songbook (1967-2004)
1 The Circle Game Buffy Sainte-Marie (1967)
2 Both Sides Now Judy Collins (1968/01)
3 Song To A Seagull Buffy Sainte-Marie (1967)
4 Urge For Going Tom Rush (1968)
5 Michael From Mountains Judy Collins (1968/01)
6 I Don't Know Where I Stand Fairport Convention (1968/06)
7 Chelsea Morning Judy Collins (1969/07)
8 Eastern Rain Fairport Convention (1969/01)
9 Big Yellow Taxi Bob Dylan (1970[1973])
10 Woodstock Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970/03)
11 All I Want Keith Jarrett (1971)
12 (He Played Real Good) For Free The Byrds (1973)
13 That Song About the Midway Bonnie Raitt (1974)
14 This Flight Tonight Nazareth (1974)
15 Dreamland Roger McGuinn (1976)
16 Free Man In Paris Neil Diamond (1977)
17 Blue Sarah McLachlan (1994)
18 A Case Of You Tori Amos (1994)
19 River Travis (1999)
20 California Wilson Phillips (2004)
21 Black Crow Diane Krall (2004)
The Joni Mitchell Songbook (1967-2004)
1 The Circle Game Buffy Sainte-Marie (1967)
2 Both Sides Now Judy Collins (1968/01)
3 Song To A Seagull Buffy Sainte-Marie (1967)
4 Urge For Going Tom Rush (1968)
5 Michael From Mountains Judy Collins (1968/01)
6 I Don't Know Where I Stand Fairport Convention (1968/06)
7 Chelsea Morning Judy Collins (1969/07)
8 Eastern Rain Fairport Convention (1969/01)
9 Big Yellow Taxi Bob Dylan (1970[1973])
10 Woodstock Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970/03)
11 All I Want Keith Jarrett (1971)
12 (He Played Real Good) For Free The Byrds (1973)
13 That Song About the Midway Bonnie Raitt (1974)
14 This Flight Tonight Nazareth (1974)
15 Dreamland Roger McGuinn (1976)
16 Free Man In Paris Neil Diamond (1977)
17 Blue Sarah McLachlan (1994)
18 A Case Of You Tori Amos (1994)
19 River Travis (1999)
20 California Wilson Phillips (2004)
21 Black Crow Diane Krall (2004)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Rock & Roll
As I have noted previously, I listen to all types of music, but the genre which dominates my music collection is rock and pop of the last 50 years. If I had to guess, I'd say that the decades in which the greatest number of my Western CDs come from are the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, followed by the 1960s and the decade following 2000. While I don't have as many CDs from the 1950s as from the following decades, I love a lot of the music from that time for its sheer exuberance, and of course it was the primary basis for all that came after. A number of years ago I made a 3 CD compilation of classic rock and roll and rhythm and blues from the period 1950 to 1960. I have long intended to update this (expanding it to 4 CDs in the process, as the original three were about as long as they could be), but like so many of my projects, I have not gotten around to it. For now, I am simply posting my original collection and the liner notes I wrote to go with it, but I will conclude by mentioning a few of the songs that will probably go on the future new edition.
CD1
01 The Fat Man (Domino/Bartholomew[/Dupree]) Fats Domino (1950/04)
02 Rocket 88 (Brenston[Turner]) Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats (1951)
03 Goin' Home (Domino/Young) Fats Domino (1952/03)
04 One Mint Julep (Toombs) The Clovers (1952)
05 Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Price) Lloyd Price (1952)
06 Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller) Big Mama Thornton (1953)
07 Mess Around (Stone) Ray Charles (1953/07)
08 Money Honey (Stone) Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters (1953)
09 Shake Rattle And Roll (Calhoun[Jesse Stone]) Big Joe Turner (1954)
10 Sh-Boom (Edwards/Feaster/Feaster/Keyes/McRae) The Chords (1954)
11 Rock Around The Clock (DeKnight/Freedman) Bill Haley And His Comets (1954)
12 That's All Right (Crudup) Elvis Presley (1954/07/19)
13 I've Got A Woman (R. Charles/Richard) Ray Charles (1954/12)
14 Earth Angel (Belvin/Williams/Hodge) The Penguins (1954)
15 Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry) (Ballard/James/Otis) Etta James (1955/01)
16 Ain't That A Shame (Bartholomew/Domino) Fats Domino (1955/04/14)
17 Maybellene (Traditional arr. Berry) Chuck Berry (1955/07)
18 Rock Island Line (Traditional arr. Leadbelly) Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group (1955/11)
19 The Great Pretender (Ram) The Platters (1955)
20 Tutti Frutti (Blackwell/LaBostrie/Little Richard) Little Richard (1955/12)
21 Blue Suede Shoes (Perkins) Carl Perkins (1956)
22 Need Your Love So Bad (Little Willie John) Little Willie John (1956)
23 Downbound Train (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1956)
CD2
01 Heartbreak Hotel (Axton/Durden/Presley) Elvis Presley (1956/02)
02 Long Tall Sally (Blackwell/Johnson/Penniman) Little Richard (1956/03/12)
03 Fever (Cooley[Blackwell]/Davenport) Little Willie John (1956/03-04)
04 Hallelujah I Love Her So (R. Charles) Ray Charles (1956/05)
05 Be-Bop-A-Lula (Davis/Vincent) Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps (1956/05)
06 Roll Over Beethoven (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1956/05/14)
07 Don't Be Cruel (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley (1956/07)
08 Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley (1956/07)
09 I'm In Love Again (Domino/Bartholomew) Fats Domino (1956/07)
10 Bad Penny Blues (Lyttleton) Humphrey Lyttleton (1956/07)
11 Let The Good Times Roll (Lee) Shirley & Lee (1956)
12 In The Still Of The Night (Parris) The Five Satins (1956)
13 Brown Eyed Handsome Man (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1956/08)
14 Blueberry Hill (Lewis/Stock/Rose) Fats Domino (1956/09)
15 You Can't Catch Me (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1956/11)
16 Blue Monday (Bartholomew/Domino) Fats Domino (1956/12)
17 Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On (David/Williams) Jerry Lee Lewis (1956)
18 Louie Louie (R. Berry) Richard Berry (1957)
19 School Day (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1957/03)
20 Lucille (Penniman/Collins) Little Richard (1957/03)
21 All Shook Up (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley (1957/03)
22 Bye Bye Love (F. & B. Bryant) The Everly Brothers (1957/05)
23 That'll Be The Day (Petty/Holly/Allison) The Crickets (1957/05)
24 Keep A Knockin' (Penniman) Little Richard (1957/09)
25 Wake Up Little Susie (F. & B. Bryant) The Everly Brothers (1957/09)
26 Peggy Sue (Allison/Petty/Holly) Buddy Holly (1957/09)
27 Rock & Roll Music (Berry) Chuck Berry (1957/09/30)
28 Jailhouse Rock (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley (1957/10)
29 You Send Me (Cooke) Sam Cooke (1957/10)
30 Great Balls Of Fire (Blackwell/Hammer) Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
CD2
01 Get A Job (Silhouettes) The Silhouettes (1957)
02 Sweet Little Sixteen (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1958/01)
03 Good Golly Miss Molly (Blackwell/Marascalco) Little Richard (1958)
04 Johnny B. Goode (Berry) Chuck Berry (1958/03)
05 All I Have To Do Is Dream (B. Bryant) The Everly Brothers (1958/04)
06 Yakety Yak (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters (1958)
07 Fever (Cooley[Blackwell]/Davenport) Peggy Lee (1958)
08 Summertime Blues (Capehart/Cochran) Eddie Cochran (1958/08)
09 Try Me (J. Brown) James Brown (1958/11)
10 Kansas City [K.C. Lovin'] (Leiber/Stoller) Wilbert Harrison (1959)
11 Little Queenie (Berry) Chuck Berry (1959/03)
12 I'm Ready (Domino/Bradford/Lewis) Fats Domino (1959/04)
13 What'd I Say (R. Charles) Ray Charles (1959/06)
14 Shout (Isley/Isley/Isley) The Isley Brothers (1959)
15 Money (That's What I Want) (Bradford/Gordy) Barrett Strong (1959/12/10)
15 This Magic Moment (Pomus/Shuman) The Drifters (1960)
16 Cathy's Clown (D. & P. Everly) The Everly Brothers (1960/04)
17 All I Could Do Was Cry (Davis/Fuqua/Gordy) Etta James (1960/04)
18 Wonderful World (Adler/Alpert/Cooke) Sam Cooke (1960/05)
19 Only The Lonely (Know How I Feel) (Melson/Orbison) Roy Orbison (1960/05)
20 Walking to New Orleans (Bartholomew/Domino/Guidry) Fats Domino (1960/06)
21 Chain Gang (Cooke) Sam Cooke (1960/08)
22 Georgia on My Mind (Carmichael/Gorrell) Ray Charles (1960/08)
23 Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Goffin/King) The Shirelles (1960/11/07)
24 Shop Around (Gordy/Robinson) The Miracles (1960/12)
For all the great rock music that has been made over the past few decades, when it comes to simple, unadulterated fun, there is little that can compare to the original rock and roll of the fifties. This 3 CD set collects most of the great classic songs of that era, all the way up to 1960. The first CD covers the first half of the decade and includes the rhythm and blues classics which laid the foundation for rock and roll, including all the major contenders for the title of "first rock & roll song". These include "The Fat Man", "Rocket 88", "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", "Shake Rattle And Roll", "Rock Around The Clock" and "That's All Right". Other songs include early doo wop classics such as "Sh-Boom" and the ever-popular ballad "Earth Angel", and R & B hits like "I've Got A Woman", "Money Honey", and "Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)". Then there are great early rock and roll hits from Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, as well as Carl Perkins' rockabilly classic "Blue Suede Shoes". Another song worth noting is Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line". This rendition of an old Leadbelly tune was one of the few British releases to hit the top 10 in the US before the Sixties, and more importantly single-handedly started the skiffle craze in Britain, during which countless schoolboy skiffle groups were formed, including one called the Quarry Men, led by a Liverpool teen named John Lennon....
The second CD covers the golden years of rock and roll, 1956 and 1957. The biggest hits by Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis are all included. Also on this CD are Fats Domino's classic rendition of the 1940 tune "Blueberry Hill", the original versions of "Fever" (by R & B balladeer Little Willie John) and "Louie Louie" (made famous in the early 1960s by the Kingsmen), and Sam Cooke's first pop hit "You Send Me".
The third CD covers the last years of the decade, up to and including 1960. Due to a variety of reasons the output of many of the biggest stars of rock and roll declined or dried up during this period, but there were still plenty of classics released by artists such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and the Everly Brothers. Also in this period soul music became a major force. Ray Charles released his first big pop crossover hit, the extended jam track "What'd I Say" as well as his version of the early 30s hit "Georgia On My Mind". Sam Cooke came out with some of his biggest hits, and James Brown, the Isley Brothers, and The Miracles all released their earliest hits.
It should be pointed out that a number of the songs here are in fact covers, and others are rewrites of older songs. As mentioned above, "Blueberry Hill" is a cover of a 1940 hit by Ray Eberle with Glenn Miller, "Georgia On My Mind" was originally a 1931 hit for Frankie Trumbauer and "Rock Island Line" is a cover of Leadbelly's arrangement of this traditional folk song. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" was originally recorded in 1955 by country pianist Roy Hall, co-writer of the song, though Jerry Lee Lewis apparently transformed the song greatly in his version. "Kansas City" is another cover, having been originally recorded as "K.C. Lovin'" by Little Willie Littlefield in 1952, though it was Wilbert Harrison who made the song a hit. "The Fat Man" was based on "Junker's Blues" by Champion Jack Dupree, and "Maybellene" is a reworking of "Ida Red", a traditional country tune.
Many of these songs were written under pen names, on others credit was given to someone who didn't actually write the song, and for a few authorship is disputed or uncertain. Little Richard, for instance, is sometimes credited under his stage name and sometimes under his real name (Richard Penniman). By some accounts, "Rocket 88" was not actually written by Jackie Brenston, but was mainly written by Ike Turner (the group credited as "Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats" was actually Turner's Kings of Rhythm; Brenston was the band's saxophone player). Elvis was given a co-writing credit on several of his songs, but it is generally acknowledged he didn't actually have anything to do with writing them. Prominent disc jockey Alan Freed was originally giving a songwriting credit for Maybellene in order to get him to play the song frequently on his shows (nowadays Chuck Berry alone is generally credited, though he didn't really write the song either - unlike his other songs, which were all Berry originals). "Hound Dog" is generally attributed to Leiber and Stoller, but Johnny Otis also claimed credit (he was co-credited on early singles, but his claim to a co-writing credit was later dismissed in court), and Big Mama Thornton herself improvised a few lines and played with the rhythm (further changes to the lyrics were made by Freddie Bell for his 1955 recording; Jerry Leiber disliked these changes, but it was Bell's version that Elvis recorded). "Earth Angel" is sometimes credited to Penguins' leader Curtis Williams, sometimes to singer Jessie Belvin, and sometimes to both together, while in 1956 Gaynell Hodge of the doo wop group the Turks won a lawsuit giving him a co-writing credit.
Of course this CD set is far from complete. Due to space constraints, a lot of excellent songs had to be left off. Almost all of the major artists represented here had other big hits that are worth hearing. Furthermore, I was unable to find several important songs, particularly from the early 50s. For example, while I was able to include Etta James' "Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)", I couldn't find the track that it was an "answer" to, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' "Work With Me Annie" (another Hank Ballard song which I would have included had I been able to find it was his original version of the late 50s hit "The Twist", popularized by Chubby Checker). Other early R & B songs that I would have liked to include had I been able to find them were "It's Too Soon to Know" by the Orioles, "Don't You Know I Love You" by the Clovers and "Honey Love" by Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters.
But overall, this CD set should give the listener a solid overview of 1950s rock and roll. For those who want to explore further, you might consider looking up compilations CDs from these artists. Also it's possible that someday I may put together an even longer and more complete set....
2012 Postscript
For my expanded version, I intend to include a few more of the contenders for the "first rock and roll record" (not that I necessarily think there is such a thing; the genre evolved slowly out of rhythm and blues, so it's impossible to name just one record) from the late 1940s, such as "Good Rocking Tonight", "Rock the Joint", "Saturday Night Fish Fry" and the above-mentioned "It's Too Soon to Know". I'll also add a few tracks from Bo Diddley, and perhaps one or two more Leiber/Stoller and Buddy Holly songs.
I haven't decided whether I want to fill an entire additional CD with songs, or just put less music on each CD while still adding one. It wouldn't be difficult to fill another 75-minute CD with good songs, but I don't want to dilute the impact of the collection by including too many relatively obscure songs (though if they are particularly good ones, I'll still consider them). Generally speaking, I will only add songs that are obvious classics, historically important, or in my subjective opinion are really great. Furthermore, even though artists like Elvis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and so on had some classic songs that I didn't put on the initial collection, I probably wouldn't want to add too many more songs by any one artist, because it's better to have more variety (there's already a lot of Chuck Berry, for instance, so I am unlikely to add anything else of his -- even though he probably more than anyone else was the archetypical rock and roller). Finally, of course, I won't be able to add any songs that I can't obtain copies of, even if I really want to. With these caveats in mind, I welcome any suggestions as to tracks to add to the new edition.
CD1
01 The Fat Man (Domino/Bartholomew[/Dupree]) Fats Domino (1950/04)
02 Rocket 88 (Brenston[Turner]) Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats (1951)
03 Goin' Home (Domino/Young) Fats Domino (1952/03)
04 One Mint Julep (Toombs) The Clovers (1952)
05 Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Price) Lloyd Price (1952)
06 Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller) Big Mama Thornton (1953)
07 Mess Around (Stone) Ray Charles (1953/07)
08 Money Honey (Stone) Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters (1953)
09 Shake Rattle And Roll (Calhoun[Jesse Stone]) Big Joe Turner (1954)
10 Sh-Boom (Edwards/Feaster/Feaster/Keyes/McRae) The Chords (1954)
11 Rock Around The Clock (DeKnight/Freedman) Bill Haley And His Comets (1954)
12 That's All Right (Crudup) Elvis Presley (1954/07/19)
13 I've Got A Woman (R. Charles/Richard) Ray Charles (1954/12)
14 Earth Angel (Belvin/Williams/Hodge) The Penguins (1954)
15 Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry) (Ballard/James/Otis) Etta James (1955/01)
16 Ain't That A Shame (Bartholomew/Domino) Fats Domino (1955/04/14)
17 Maybellene (Traditional arr. Berry) Chuck Berry (1955/07)
18 Rock Island Line (Traditional arr. Leadbelly) Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group (1955/11)
19 The Great Pretender (Ram) The Platters (1955)
20 Tutti Frutti (Blackwell/LaBostrie/Little Richard) Little Richard (1955/12)
21 Blue Suede Shoes (Perkins) Carl Perkins (1956)
22 Need Your Love So Bad (Little Willie John) Little Willie John (1956)
23 Downbound Train (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1956)
CD2
01 Heartbreak Hotel (Axton/Durden/Presley) Elvis Presley (1956/02)
02 Long Tall Sally (Blackwell/Johnson/Penniman) Little Richard (1956/03/12)
03 Fever (Cooley[Blackwell]/Davenport) Little Willie John (1956/03-04)
04 Hallelujah I Love Her So (R. Charles) Ray Charles (1956/05)
05 Be-Bop-A-Lula (Davis/Vincent) Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps (1956/05)
06 Roll Over Beethoven (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1956/05/14)
07 Don't Be Cruel (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley (1956/07)
08 Hound Dog (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley (1956/07)
09 I'm In Love Again (Domino/Bartholomew) Fats Domino (1956/07)
10 Bad Penny Blues (Lyttleton) Humphrey Lyttleton (1956/07)
11 Let The Good Times Roll (Lee) Shirley & Lee (1956)
12 In The Still Of The Night (Parris) The Five Satins (1956)
13 Brown Eyed Handsome Man (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1956/08)
14 Blueberry Hill (Lewis/Stock/Rose) Fats Domino (1956/09)
15 You Can't Catch Me (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1956/11)
16 Blue Monday (Bartholomew/Domino) Fats Domino (1956/12)
17 Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On (David/Williams) Jerry Lee Lewis (1956)
18 Louie Louie (R. Berry) Richard Berry (1957)
19 School Day (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1957/03)
20 Lucille (Penniman/Collins) Little Richard (1957/03)
21 All Shook Up (Blackwell/Presley) Elvis Presley (1957/03)
22 Bye Bye Love (F. & B. Bryant) The Everly Brothers (1957/05)
23 That'll Be The Day (Petty/Holly/Allison) The Crickets (1957/05)
24 Keep A Knockin' (Penniman) Little Richard (1957/09)
25 Wake Up Little Susie (F. & B. Bryant) The Everly Brothers (1957/09)
26 Peggy Sue (Allison/Petty/Holly) Buddy Holly (1957/09)
27 Rock & Roll Music (Berry) Chuck Berry (1957/09/30)
28 Jailhouse Rock (Leiber/Stoller) Elvis Presley (1957/10)
29 You Send Me (Cooke) Sam Cooke (1957/10)
30 Great Balls Of Fire (Blackwell/Hammer) Jerry Lee Lewis (1957)
CD2
01 Get A Job (Silhouettes) The Silhouettes (1957)
02 Sweet Little Sixteen (C. Berry) Chuck Berry (1958/01)
03 Good Golly Miss Molly (Blackwell/Marascalco) Little Richard (1958)
04 Johnny B. Goode (Berry) Chuck Berry (1958/03)
05 All I Have To Do Is Dream (B. Bryant) The Everly Brothers (1958/04)
06 Yakety Yak (Leiber/Stoller) The Coasters (1958)
07 Fever (Cooley[Blackwell]/Davenport) Peggy Lee (1958)
08 Summertime Blues (Capehart/Cochran) Eddie Cochran (1958/08)
09 Try Me (J. Brown) James Brown (1958/11)
10 Kansas City [K.C. Lovin'] (Leiber/Stoller) Wilbert Harrison (1959)
11 Little Queenie (Berry) Chuck Berry (1959/03)
12 I'm Ready (Domino/Bradford/Lewis) Fats Domino (1959/04)
13 What'd I Say (R. Charles) Ray Charles (1959/06)
14 Shout (Isley/Isley/Isley) The Isley Brothers (1959)
15 Money (That's What I Want) (Bradford/Gordy) Barrett Strong (1959/12/10)
15 This Magic Moment (Pomus/Shuman) The Drifters (1960)
16 Cathy's Clown (D. & P. Everly) The Everly Brothers (1960/04)
17 All I Could Do Was Cry (Davis/Fuqua/Gordy) Etta James (1960/04)
18 Wonderful World (Adler/Alpert/Cooke) Sam Cooke (1960/05)
19 Only The Lonely (Know How I Feel) (Melson/Orbison) Roy Orbison (1960/05)
20 Walking to New Orleans (Bartholomew/Domino/Guidry) Fats Domino (1960/06)
21 Chain Gang (Cooke) Sam Cooke (1960/08)
22 Georgia on My Mind (Carmichael/Gorrell) Ray Charles (1960/08)
23 Will You Love Me Tomorrow (Goffin/King) The Shirelles (1960/11/07)
24 Shop Around (Gordy/Robinson) The Miracles (1960/12)
For all the great rock music that has been made over the past few decades, when it comes to simple, unadulterated fun, there is little that can compare to the original rock and roll of the fifties. This 3 CD set collects most of the great classic songs of that era, all the way up to 1960. The first CD covers the first half of the decade and includes the rhythm and blues classics which laid the foundation for rock and roll, including all the major contenders for the title of "first rock & roll song". These include "The Fat Man", "Rocket 88", "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", "Shake Rattle And Roll", "Rock Around The Clock" and "That's All Right". Other songs include early doo wop classics such as "Sh-Boom" and the ever-popular ballad "Earth Angel", and R & B hits like "I've Got A Woman", "Money Honey", and "Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)". Then there are great early rock and roll hits from Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, and Little Richard, as well as Carl Perkins' rockabilly classic "Blue Suede Shoes". Another song worth noting is Lonnie Donegan's "Rock Island Line". This rendition of an old Leadbelly tune was one of the few British releases to hit the top 10 in the US before the Sixties, and more importantly single-handedly started the skiffle craze in Britain, during which countless schoolboy skiffle groups were formed, including one called the Quarry Men, led by a Liverpool teen named John Lennon....
The second CD covers the golden years of rock and roll, 1956 and 1957. The biggest hits by Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, and Jerry Lee Lewis are all included. Also on this CD are Fats Domino's classic rendition of the 1940 tune "Blueberry Hill", the original versions of "Fever" (by R & B balladeer Little Willie John) and "Louie Louie" (made famous in the early 1960s by the Kingsmen), and Sam Cooke's first pop hit "You Send Me".
The third CD covers the last years of the decade, up to and including 1960. Due to a variety of reasons the output of many of the biggest stars of rock and roll declined or dried up during this period, but there were still plenty of classics released by artists such as Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and the Everly Brothers. Also in this period soul music became a major force. Ray Charles released his first big pop crossover hit, the extended jam track "What'd I Say" as well as his version of the early 30s hit "Georgia On My Mind". Sam Cooke came out with some of his biggest hits, and James Brown, the Isley Brothers, and The Miracles all released their earliest hits.
It should be pointed out that a number of the songs here are in fact covers, and others are rewrites of older songs. As mentioned above, "Blueberry Hill" is a cover of a 1940 hit by Ray Eberle with Glenn Miller, "Georgia On My Mind" was originally a 1931 hit for Frankie Trumbauer and "Rock Island Line" is a cover of Leadbelly's arrangement of this traditional folk song. "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" was originally recorded in 1955 by country pianist Roy Hall, co-writer of the song, though Jerry Lee Lewis apparently transformed the song greatly in his version. "Kansas City" is another cover, having been originally recorded as "K.C. Lovin'" by Little Willie Littlefield in 1952, though it was Wilbert Harrison who made the song a hit. "The Fat Man" was based on "Junker's Blues" by Champion Jack Dupree, and "Maybellene" is a reworking of "Ida Red", a traditional country tune.
Many of these songs were written under pen names, on others credit was given to someone who didn't actually write the song, and for a few authorship is disputed or uncertain. Little Richard, for instance, is sometimes credited under his stage name and sometimes under his real name (Richard Penniman). By some accounts, "Rocket 88" was not actually written by Jackie Brenston, but was mainly written by Ike Turner (the group credited as "Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats" was actually Turner's Kings of Rhythm; Brenston was the band's saxophone player). Elvis was given a co-writing credit on several of his songs, but it is generally acknowledged he didn't actually have anything to do with writing them. Prominent disc jockey Alan Freed was originally giving a songwriting credit for Maybellene in order to get him to play the song frequently on his shows (nowadays Chuck Berry alone is generally credited, though he didn't really write the song either - unlike his other songs, which were all Berry originals). "Hound Dog" is generally attributed to Leiber and Stoller, but Johnny Otis also claimed credit (he was co-credited on early singles, but his claim to a co-writing credit was later dismissed in court), and Big Mama Thornton herself improvised a few lines and played with the rhythm (further changes to the lyrics were made by Freddie Bell for his 1955 recording; Jerry Leiber disliked these changes, but it was Bell's version that Elvis recorded). "Earth Angel" is sometimes credited to Penguins' leader Curtis Williams, sometimes to singer Jessie Belvin, and sometimes to both together, while in 1956 Gaynell Hodge of the doo wop group the Turks won a lawsuit giving him a co-writing credit.
Of course this CD set is far from complete. Due to space constraints, a lot of excellent songs had to be left off. Almost all of the major artists represented here had other big hits that are worth hearing. Furthermore, I was unable to find several important songs, particularly from the early 50s. For example, while I was able to include Etta James' "Wallflower (Roll With Me Henry)", I couldn't find the track that it was an "answer" to, Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' "Work With Me Annie" (another Hank Ballard song which I would have included had I been able to find it was his original version of the late 50s hit "The Twist", popularized by Chubby Checker). Other early R & B songs that I would have liked to include had I been able to find them were "It's Too Soon to Know" by the Orioles, "Don't You Know I Love You" by the Clovers and "Honey Love" by Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters.
But overall, this CD set should give the listener a solid overview of 1950s rock and roll. For those who want to explore further, you might consider looking up compilations CDs from these artists. Also it's possible that someday I may put together an even longer and more complete set....
2012 Postscript
For my expanded version, I intend to include a few more of the contenders for the "first rock and roll record" (not that I necessarily think there is such a thing; the genre evolved slowly out of rhythm and blues, so it's impossible to name just one record) from the late 1940s, such as "Good Rocking Tonight", "Rock the Joint", "Saturday Night Fish Fry" and the above-mentioned "It's Too Soon to Know". I'll also add a few tracks from Bo Diddley, and perhaps one or two more Leiber/Stoller and Buddy Holly songs.
I haven't decided whether I want to fill an entire additional CD with songs, or just put less music on each CD while still adding one. It wouldn't be difficult to fill another 75-minute CD with good songs, but I don't want to dilute the impact of the collection by including too many relatively obscure songs (though if they are particularly good ones, I'll still consider them). Generally speaking, I will only add songs that are obvious classics, historically important, or in my subjective opinion are really great. Furthermore, even though artists like Elvis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and so on had some classic songs that I didn't put on the initial collection, I probably wouldn't want to add too many more songs by any one artist, because it's better to have more variety (there's already a lot of Chuck Berry, for instance, so I am unlikely to add anything else of his -- even though he probably more than anyone else was the archetypical rock and roller). Finally, of course, I won't be able to add any songs that I can't obtain copies of, even if I really want to. With these caveats in mind, I welcome any suggestions as to tracks to add to the new edition.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
A Generation Lost In Space - Rock Classics of the Psychedelic Era
Original Version
Vol. 1
1 Sunshine of Your Love (Bruce/Brown/Clapton) Cream
2 Purple Haze (J. Hendrix) The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3 Somebody to Love (D. Slick) Jefferson Airplane
4 Born To Be Wild (M. Bonfire) Steppenwolf
5 Turn! Turn! Turn! (Anoymous/P. Seeger) The Byrds
6 Good Vibrations (B. Wilson/M. Love) The Beach Boys
7 White Room (J. Bruce/P. Brown) Cream
8 White Rabbit (G. Slick) Jefferson Airplane
9 Eight Miles High (Clark/McGuinn/Crosby) The Byrds
10 Proud Mary (J. Fogerty) Creedence Clearwater Revival
11 American Pie (D. McLean) Don McLean
Vol. 2
1 25 Or 6 To 4 (R. Lamm) Chicago
2 Space Oddity (D. Bowie) David Bowie
3 For What It's Worth (S. Stills) Buffalo Springfield
4 Magic Carpet Ride (J. Kay/R. Moreve) Steppenwolf
5 Layla (E. Clapton/J. Gordon) Derek and the Dominoes
6 Saturday In The Park (R. Lamm) Chicago
7 Lola (R. Davies) The Kinks
8 I'd Love To Change The World (A. Lee) Ten Years After
9 All The Young Dudes (D. Bowie) Mott the Hoople
10 Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress (Clarke/Cook/Greenaway) The Hollies
11 Walk On The Wild Side (L. Reed) Lou Reed
New Version
Vol. 1
1 Sunshine of Your Love (Bruce/Brown/Clapton) Cream (1967/11)
2 Purple Haze (J. Hendrix) The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967/03)
3 Somebody to Love (D. Slick) Jefferson Airplane (1967/02)
4 Born To Be Wild (M. Bonfire) Steppenwolf (1968/01)
5 Turn! Turn! Turn! (Anonymous/P. Seeger) The Byrds (1965/10)
6 Paint It Black (Nanker Phelge [Jagger/Jones/Richards/Watts/Wyman]) The Rolling Stones (1966/05)
7 Tomorrow Never Knows (J. Lennon) The Beatles (1966/08)
8 Good Vibrations (B. Wilson/M. Love) The Beach Boys (1966/10)
9 The Red Telephone (A. Lee) Love (1968/01)
10 Heroin (L. Reed) The Velvet Underground (1966/12)
11 White Room (J. Bruce/P. Brown) Cream (1968/08)
12 White Rabbit (G. Slick) Jefferson Airplane (1967/02)
13 Eight Miles High (Clark/McGuinn/Crosby) The Byrds (1966/04)
14 Astronomy Domine (S. Barrett) Pink Floyd (1967/08)
15 Fixing A Hole (P. McCartney) The Beatles (1967/06)
16 Proud Mary (J. Fogerty) Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969/01)
17 Sympathy for the Devil (M. Jagger/K. Richards) The Rolling Stones (1968/12)
18 American Pie (D. McLean) Don McLean (1971/11)
Vol. 2
1 25 Or 6 To 4 (R. Lamm) Chicago (1970/02)
2 Space Oddity (D. Bowie) David Bowie (1969/07)
3 For What It's Worth (S. Stills) Buffalo Springfield (1967/01)
4 Magic Carpet Ride (J. Kay/R. Moreve) Steppenwolf (1968/09)
5 Time Of The Season (R. Argent) The Zombies (1968/04)
6 A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Brooker/Reid/Fisher) Procul Harum (1967/05)
7 All Along The Watchtower (B. Dylan) The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968/09)
8 Layla (E. Clapton/J. Gordon) Derek and the Dominoes (1970/11)
9 Saturday In The Park (R. Lamm) Chicago (1972/07)
10 Everyday People (S. Stewart) Sly & the Family Stone (1968/11)
11 Lola (R. Davies) The Kinks (1970/06)
12 Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In (Rado/Ragni/MacDermot) The 5th Dimension (1969/03)
13 In The Year 2525 (R. Evans) Zager & Evans (1969)
14 I'd Love To Change The World (A. Lee) Ten Years After (1971/08)
15 Woodstock (J. Mitchell) Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970/03)
16 All The Young Dudes (D. Bowie) Mott the Hoople (1972/07)
17 Mama Told Me (Not To Come) (R. Newman) Three Dog Night (1970/05)
18 Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress (Clarke/Cook/Greenaway) The Hollies (1971/07)
19 Walk On The Wild Side (L. Reed) Lou Reed (1972/11)
Ever since I first started seriously listening to music in college, I have enjoyed making compilations. In fact, aside from actually listening to music I like and occasionally singing or playing guitar, it is probably the music-related activity I get the most pleasure from. Nowadays I have so many ideas for compilations that many of them have never actually been completed; there are basically just lists of songs. But I have from time to time actually finished putting together compilations, many of which I have to say sound pretty good (though I can always think of ways to improve them). A number of them have also been complimented by others, so in at least those cases, my self-satisfaction is perhaps to some degree warranted.
The first significant compilation I ever made was done when I was in college, about two decades ago. Like all my early compilations, it was done on cassette tape (CDs were still relatively new, and CD burners were still years away); in other words, it was what many people at the time called a mix tape. I had only recently started to regularly listen to classic rock, and I decided to make a compilation of some of my favorite songs from the late 1960s and early 1970s. As I recall, most of the tracks I included were from vinyl 45s. These were reissues, not the original singles, but from perspective at the time this was a plus, as they had a well-known track by the artist in question on both sides of the single (this is one reason a lot of artists were represented by two tracks, even if both were classic tunes). Some of the tracks I think came from other tapes or perhaps from vinyl albums (the closing track on the A side must have come from one of these sources, as on singles it was split into two parts, but the version on my compilation was clearly the album version, as it had no break in the middle). Unfortunately I don't recall the details about the making of the compilation, including the time and where I was living at the time, but I probably used a stereo system that belonged to one of my roommates which had a turntable and two tape players.
I made an effort to minimize the space between tracks and to choose songs that segued into each other well. Since of course I had no computer programs to work with, all this had to be done be careful timing. This applied also to length of the compilation, which I carefully calculated to make maximum use of the space on the cassette tape. Recording of course had to be done song by song, with frequent use of the pause, rewind and fast forward buttons as well as the record button (from what I recall, I would play to the end of the last song recorded, immediately hit pause, press down record while the tape was still paused, then set up the song to be recorded, only releasing the pause button just before the song began to play). I initially only filled one side of a 90 minute blank tape. This first compilation opened up with Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love", followed by Jimi Hendrix's classic "Purple Haze". Then came "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane, "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, and in a more folky vein, the Byrds' recording of "Turn! Turn! Turn!". The Beach Boys' psychedelic masterpiece "Good Vibrations", followed by two more songs from Cream and Jefferson Airplane, "White Room" and "White Rabbit" (a particularly fitting pairing). The Byrds' "Eight Miles High" came next, and then Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary". Closing the compilation was Don McLean's allegorical history of rock 'n' roll in song, "American Pie".
A lot of different people who heard this compilation praised it. Of course it helped that all the songs were great, but I think I also sequenced them in a way that worked pretty well. If I had been more familiar with the music of the period than I was at the time, I would have been tempted to include more variety in terms of artists (and I have indeed done that with the CD versions, as I'll explain later), but since space was limited, it's perhaps just as well that I didn't have too many choices. Though I've made many compilations since then, not many have worked better than this one did.
For a long time -- perhaps a year or more -- the B side of the cassette tape that I'd put the compilation on remained blank. I spent quite some time choosing songs to go on it, and only when I had enough to fill the 45 minutes did I start to work on the new compilation (or the second half of the two part compilation). The lead-off track was Chicago's "25 Or 6 To 4" (which could hardly be more different from the commercial pop they were doing in the late 1980s), followed by David Bowie's first big song, "Space Oddity". Next was Buffalo Springfield's protest song "For What It's Worth", then "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf and the full version of "Layla" by Derek and the Dominoes (aka Eric Clapton, Duane Allman and friends). Then came another track from Chicago, "Saturday In The Park", the Kinks' classic "Lola", "I'd Love To Change The World" by Ten Years After, and "All The Young Dudes" performed by Mott the Hoople (and written by David Bowie). Next came the latter-day (and somewhat atypical) Hollies classic "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" and the closing track, Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side".
I never felt the second half of the compilation flowed quite as well as the first half, but nevertheless I think it worked pretty well, and it had a somewhat greater variety of material, since only one artist appeared twice (though Steppenwolf had also appeared on the first half). Combined, the two halves were a very solid combination of tracks from the late 1960s and early 1970s. At some point, certainly after finishing the A side but quite possibly before completing the B side, I gave the compilation the title A Generation Lost In Space - Rock Classics of the Psychedelic Era, from a line in "American Pie". Though perhaps slightly pejoritive-sounding, as it implied the hippies of the era were, as it were, spaced out, it seemed appropriate and I've retained it.
When recently I finally got around to making a CD version of this compilation, I faced a few dilemmas. The main problem was that as the original had been designed for the two sides of a 90 minute cassette tape, it wasn't possible to put both halves of the original compilation on one CD. If I just put the two halves of the compilation on a CD apiece, then each CD would only have about 45 minutes of music, which seemed rather wasteful (just as had been the case back when I was using cassette tapes, I always like to make the most of my blank CDs). The only option left was to expand the compilations. The next problem, then, was choosing what songs to add and how to fit them in with the original selections. I could have just added the new songs on the end of each CD, but it seemed better to add them in as if they had originally been part of the compilation, particular as on the first part I wanted keep "American Pie" as the closing track.
In choosing new songs, I restricted myself to ones from the same time period as the original selections (basically 1966 to 1972) and also tried to pick ones that were similarly representative of that era, with a particular preference for slightly psychedelic tunes. One of the purposes of the original collection had been to collect songs that I didn't have elsewhere, so I didn't include any songs by artists like the Beatles. This no longer held true, as for many of the artists in the original compilation I had acquired compilation CDs or in a few cases original albums (though there are a few artists I still have no songs from beyond what is here, such as Steppenwolf, Ten Years After and Mott the Hoople). Therefore, I didn't feel constrained from including a few suitable songs from other artists in my CD collection.
On the first CD I added a couple of songs each by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, plus a song each from the Velvet Underground and (Syd Barrett-era) Pink Floyd. Aside from their importance and popularity, it seemed particularly appropriate to have some songs from the Beatles and the Stones because, like the Byrds' "Eight Miles High", they are referenced in "American Pie". For the Beatles in particular it was of course difficult to pick just two songs (one other excellent candidate from them was "Strawberry Fields Forever"), but these two fit in quite well. On the second side, I included a greater variety of artists, with songs from The Zombies, Procul Harum, Sly & the Family Stone, The 5th Dimension (though I have some reservations about this choice, due to the nonsensical lyrics -- even if they are representative of the era), Zager & Evans, CSN&Y, and Three Dog Night, plus an additional song from Jimi Hendrix. My particular song choices from these artists also deliberately included songs written by several great singer-songwriters who otherwise would have gotten left out entirely, namely Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman (in Joni Mitchell's case I would have used her version of the song, but it was considerably longer than the CSN&Y version). I tried to fit the new songs in a way that maintained the standards set by the original sequencing, and also with an eye on chronology, though I made no attempt to stick to a strict chronological order since the original compilation was not arranged chronologically.
There were of course many songs I considered but ultimately had to leave out. I would really have loved to put in "Won't Get Fooled Again" by the Who, but at eight minutes in length I would have had to cut at least two other songs to get it in there. It would also have been nice to have a Janis Joplin song (probably "Piece of My Heart"), since women are seriously underrepresented in this collection, but as there are prominent female vocals on the songs from Sly & the Family Stone and the 5th Dimension plus a song written by a woman (the above-mentioned Joni Mitchell song), not to mention the Jefferson Airplane tracks on the first part of the original collection I reluctantly decided to do without, since including a Joplin song would have meant leaving something else out (though if I were to redo it, I might consider substituting "Piece of My Heart" for "Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In"). But despite the omissions, I think the expanded CD versions of A Generation Lost In Space - Rock Classics of the Psychedelic Era are, like the original, a pretty enjoyable listening experience.
Vol. 1
1 Sunshine of Your Love (Bruce/Brown/Clapton) Cream
2 Purple Haze (J. Hendrix) The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3 Somebody to Love (D. Slick) Jefferson Airplane
4 Born To Be Wild (M. Bonfire) Steppenwolf
5 Turn! Turn! Turn! (Anoymous/P. Seeger) The Byrds
6 Good Vibrations (B. Wilson/M. Love) The Beach Boys
7 White Room (J. Bruce/P. Brown) Cream
8 White Rabbit (G. Slick) Jefferson Airplane
9 Eight Miles High (Clark/McGuinn/Crosby) The Byrds
10 Proud Mary (J. Fogerty) Creedence Clearwater Revival
11 American Pie (D. McLean) Don McLean
Vol. 2
1 25 Or 6 To 4 (R. Lamm) Chicago
2 Space Oddity (D. Bowie) David Bowie
3 For What It's Worth (S. Stills) Buffalo Springfield
4 Magic Carpet Ride (J. Kay/R. Moreve) Steppenwolf
5 Layla (E. Clapton/J. Gordon) Derek and the Dominoes
6 Saturday In The Park (R. Lamm) Chicago
7 Lola (R. Davies) The Kinks
8 I'd Love To Change The World (A. Lee) Ten Years After
9 All The Young Dudes (D. Bowie) Mott the Hoople
10 Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress (Clarke/Cook/Greenaway) The Hollies
11 Walk On The Wild Side (L. Reed) Lou Reed
New Version
Vol. 1
1 Sunshine of Your Love (Bruce/Brown/Clapton) Cream (1967/11)
2 Purple Haze (J. Hendrix) The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1967/03)
3 Somebody to Love (D. Slick) Jefferson Airplane (1967/02)
4 Born To Be Wild (M. Bonfire) Steppenwolf (1968/01)
5 Turn! Turn! Turn! (Anonymous/P. Seeger) The Byrds (1965/10)
6 Paint It Black (Nanker Phelge [Jagger/Jones/Richards/Watts/Wyman]) The Rolling Stones (1966/05)
7 Tomorrow Never Knows (J. Lennon) The Beatles (1966/08)
8 Good Vibrations (B. Wilson/M. Love) The Beach Boys (1966/10)
9 The Red Telephone (A. Lee) Love (1968/01)
10 Heroin (L. Reed) The Velvet Underground (1966/12)
11 White Room (J. Bruce/P. Brown) Cream (1968/08)
12 White Rabbit (G. Slick) Jefferson Airplane (1967/02)
13 Eight Miles High (Clark/McGuinn/Crosby) The Byrds (1966/04)
14 Astronomy Domine (S. Barrett) Pink Floyd (1967/08)
15 Fixing A Hole (P. McCartney) The Beatles (1967/06)
16 Proud Mary (J. Fogerty) Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969/01)
17 Sympathy for the Devil (M. Jagger/K. Richards) The Rolling Stones (1968/12)
18 American Pie (D. McLean) Don McLean (1971/11)
Vol. 2
1 25 Or 6 To 4 (R. Lamm) Chicago (1970/02)
2 Space Oddity (D. Bowie) David Bowie (1969/07)
3 For What It's Worth (S. Stills) Buffalo Springfield (1967/01)
4 Magic Carpet Ride (J. Kay/R. Moreve) Steppenwolf (1968/09)
5 Time Of The Season (R. Argent) The Zombies (1968/04)
6 A Whiter Shade Of Pale (Brooker/Reid/Fisher) Procul Harum (1967/05)
7 All Along The Watchtower (B. Dylan) The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1968/09)
8 Layla (E. Clapton/J. Gordon) Derek and the Dominoes (1970/11)
9 Saturday In The Park (R. Lamm) Chicago (1972/07)
10 Everyday People (S. Stewart) Sly & the Family Stone (1968/11)
11 Lola (R. Davies) The Kinks (1970/06)
12 Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In (Rado/Ragni/MacDermot) The 5th Dimension (1969/03)
13 In The Year 2525 (R. Evans) Zager & Evans (1969)
14 I'd Love To Change The World (A. Lee) Ten Years After (1971/08)
15 Woodstock (J. Mitchell) Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (1970/03)
16 All The Young Dudes (D. Bowie) Mott the Hoople (1972/07)
17 Mama Told Me (Not To Come) (R. Newman) Three Dog Night (1970/05)
18 Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress (Clarke/Cook/Greenaway) The Hollies (1971/07)
19 Walk On The Wild Side (L. Reed) Lou Reed (1972/11)
Ever since I first started seriously listening to music in college, I have enjoyed making compilations. In fact, aside from actually listening to music I like and occasionally singing or playing guitar, it is probably the music-related activity I get the most pleasure from. Nowadays I have so many ideas for compilations that many of them have never actually been completed; there are basically just lists of songs. But I have from time to time actually finished putting together compilations, many of which I have to say sound pretty good (though I can always think of ways to improve them). A number of them have also been complimented by others, so in at least those cases, my self-satisfaction is perhaps to some degree warranted.
The first significant compilation I ever made was done when I was in college, about two decades ago. Like all my early compilations, it was done on cassette tape (CDs were still relatively new, and CD burners were still years away); in other words, it was what many people at the time called a mix tape. I had only recently started to regularly listen to classic rock, and I decided to make a compilation of some of my favorite songs from the late 1960s and early 1970s. As I recall, most of the tracks I included were from vinyl 45s. These were reissues, not the original singles, but from perspective at the time this was a plus, as they had a well-known track by the artist in question on both sides of the single (this is one reason a lot of artists were represented by two tracks, even if both were classic tunes). Some of the tracks I think came from other tapes or perhaps from vinyl albums (the closing track on the A side must have come from one of these sources, as on singles it was split into two parts, but the version on my compilation was clearly the album version, as it had no break in the middle). Unfortunately I don't recall the details about the making of the compilation, including the time and where I was living at the time, but I probably used a stereo system that belonged to one of my roommates which had a turntable and two tape players.
I made an effort to minimize the space between tracks and to choose songs that segued into each other well. Since of course I had no computer programs to work with, all this had to be done be careful timing. This applied also to length of the compilation, which I carefully calculated to make maximum use of the space on the cassette tape. Recording of course had to be done song by song, with frequent use of the pause, rewind and fast forward buttons as well as the record button (from what I recall, I would play to the end of the last song recorded, immediately hit pause, press down record while the tape was still paused, then set up the song to be recorded, only releasing the pause button just before the song began to play). I initially only filled one side of a 90 minute blank tape. This first compilation opened up with Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love", followed by Jimi Hendrix's classic "Purple Haze". Then came "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane, "Born To Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, and in a more folky vein, the Byrds' recording of "Turn! Turn! Turn!". The Beach Boys' psychedelic masterpiece "Good Vibrations", followed by two more songs from Cream and Jefferson Airplane, "White Room" and "White Rabbit" (a particularly fitting pairing). The Byrds' "Eight Miles High" came next, and then Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary". Closing the compilation was Don McLean's allegorical history of rock 'n' roll in song, "American Pie".
A lot of different people who heard this compilation praised it. Of course it helped that all the songs were great, but I think I also sequenced them in a way that worked pretty well. If I had been more familiar with the music of the period than I was at the time, I would have been tempted to include more variety in terms of artists (and I have indeed done that with the CD versions, as I'll explain later), but since space was limited, it's perhaps just as well that I didn't have too many choices. Though I've made many compilations since then, not many have worked better than this one did.
For a long time -- perhaps a year or more -- the B side of the cassette tape that I'd put the compilation on remained blank. I spent quite some time choosing songs to go on it, and only when I had enough to fill the 45 minutes did I start to work on the new compilation (or the second half of the two part compilation). The lead-off track was Chicago's "25 Or 6 To 4" (which could hardly be more different from the commercial pop they were doing in the late 1980s), followed by David Bowie's first big song, "Space Oddity". Next was Buffalo Springfield's protest song "For What It's Worth", then "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf and the full version of "Layla" by Derek and the Dominoes (aka Eric Clapton, Duane Allman and friends). Then came another track from Chicago, "Saturday In The Park", the Kinks' classic "Lola", "I'd Love To Change The World" by Ten Years After, and "All The Young Dudes" performed by Mott the Hoople (and written by David Bowie). Next came the latter-day (and somewhat atypical) Hollies classic "Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress" and the closing track, Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side".
I never felt the second half of the compilation flowed quite as well as the first half, but nevertheless I think it worked pretty well, and it had a somewhat greater variety of material, since only one artist appeared twice (though Steppenwolf had also appeared on the first half). Combined, the two halves were a very solid combination of tracks from the late 1960s and early 1970s. At some point, certainly after finishing the A side but quite possibly before completing the B side, I gave the compilation the title A Generation Lost In Space - Rock Classics of the Psychedelic Era, from a line in "American Pie". Though perhaps slightly pejoritive-sounding, as it implied the hippies of the era were, as it were, spaced out, it seemed appropriate and I've retained it.
When recently I finally got around to making a CD version of this compilation, I faced a few dilemmas. The main problem was that as the original had been designed for the two sides of a 90 minute cassette tape, it wasn't possible to put both halves of the original compilation on one CD. If I just put the two halves of the compilation on a CD apiece, then each CD would only have about 45 minutes of music, which seemed rather wasteful (just as had been the case back when I was using cassette tapes, I always like to make the most of my blank CDs). The only option left was to expand the compilations. The next problem, then, was choosing what songs to add and how to fit them in with the original selections. I could have just added the new songs on the end of each CD, but it seemed better to add them in as if they had originally been part of the compilation, particular as on the first part I wanted keep "American Pie" as the closing track.
In choosing new songs, I restricted myself to ones from the same time period as the original selections (basically 1966 to 1972) and also tried to pick ones that were similarly representative of that era, with a particular preference for slightly psychedelic tunes. One of the purposes of the original collection had been to collect songs that I didn't have elsewhere, so I didn't include any songs by artists like the Beatles. This no longer held true, as for many of the artists in the original compilation I had acquired compilation CDs or in a few cases original albums (though there are a few artists I still have no songs from beyond what is here, such as Steppenwolf, Ten Years After and Mott the Hoople). Therefore, I didn't feel constrained from including a few suitable songs from other artists in my CD collection.
On the first CD I added a couple of songs each by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, plus a song each from the Velvet Underground and (Syd Barrett-era) Pink Floyd. Aside from their importance and popularity, it seemed particularly appropriate to have some songs from the Beatles and the Stones because, like the Byrds' "Eight Miles High", they are referenced in "American Pie". For the Beatles in particular it was of course difficult to pick just two songs (one other excellent candidate from them was "Strawberry Fields Forever"), but these two fit in quite well. On the second side, I included a greater variety of artists, with songs from The Zombies, Procul Harum, Sly & the Family Stone, The 5th Dimension (though I have some reservations about this choice, due to the nonsensical lyrics -- even if they are representative of the era), Zager & Evans, CSN&Y, and Three Dog Night, plus an additional song from Jimi Hendrix. My particular song choices from these artists also deliberately included songs written by several great singer-songwriters who otherwise would have gotten left out entirely, namely Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman (in Joni Mitchell's case I would have used her version of the song, but it was considerably longer than the CSN&Y version). I tried to fit the new songs in a way that maintained the standards set by the original sequencing, and also with an eye on chronology, though I made no attempt to stick to a strict chronological order since the original compilation was not arranged chronologically.
There were of course many songs I considered but ultimately had to leave out. I would really have loved to put in "Won't Get Fooled Again" by the Who, but at eight minutes in length I would have had to cut at least two other songs to get it in there. It would also have been nice to have a Janis Joplin song (probably "Piece of My Heart"), since women are seriously underrepresented in this collection, but as there are prominent female vocals on the songs from Sly & the Family Stone and the 5th Dimension plus a song written by a woman (the above-mentioned Joni Mitchell song), not to mention the Jefferson Airplane tracks on the first part of the original collection I reluctantly decided to do without, since including a Joplin song would have meant leaving something else out (though if I were to redo it, I might consider substituting "Piece of My Heart" for "Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In"). But despite the omissions, I think the expanded CD versions of A Generation Lost In Space - Rock Classics of the Psychedelic Era are, like the original, a pretty enjoyable listening experience.
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