posted
I'm not sure what "smexy" means, but I'm sure it applies to the first-ever video from Electric Light Orchestra.
The year is 1972. Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, and Bev Bevan from the British pop group The Move have spent the last couple of years working on an album that will take the "classic pop" experimentation of The Beatles a step further. They call their new band Electric Light Orchestra.
Of course, they didn't actually have an orchestra, so they hired their roadies to wear masks and pretend to play cellos! Lynne wears an eyepatch, and Wood plays a white-haired, cello-playing wizard (whose see-sawing movements remind me of someone doing laundry, for some reason). But what really gets me is the French horn player, Bill Hunt (who would subsequently follow Wood into his next band, Wizzard). One doesn't think of the French horn as an instrument suitable to rock 'n' roll, but its mournful sound provides the highlight of the song, in my opinon.
This video is a rare find. Shortly afterwards, Wood would abandon the group he started to form Wizzard, and ELO would become Jeff Lynne's brainchild, with drummer Bevan and keyboard player Richard Tandy (who plays bass in this video) along for the long haul. More importantly, this video is pure '70s silliness and seriousness.
Enjoy!
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Great find, He Who. I'm so out of touch with music these days that I'm reverting to my childhood and this is part of the soundtrack, it seems. Some groups are great, some achieve greatness, some become something more, and deservedly so. This is one of the later.
-------------------- Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
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I'm also out of touch with music these days, Rick.
It's ironic that I used to think ill of older folks for getting stuck in the past, yet now I find myself doing the same. Yet its comforting to revisit these old songs and videos and perhaps see them in a different light. Besides, in many cases, these are songs or videos I've never heard or seen before. The ELO of 1972, for example, is a very different band from the one known for "Telephone Line" and "Turn to Stone" a few years later. Watching their evolution from the perspective of thirty years later is quite interesting.
If anyone has any other '60s/'70s videos they'd like to share, please do so.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
From the '70s back to the '60s with Soft Machine.
In the '70s, Soft Machine was known for instrumental jazz-rock fusion, a style of music that doesn't interest me. However, this song, "We Know What You Mean," is pure psychedlic rock, albeit somewhat more interesting than the usual acid-dripped fare. This is due to the inventive musicianship of Kevin Ayers (guitar), Robert Wyatt (drums) and Mike Ratledge (keyboards), as well as the haunting harmonies of Ayers and Wyatt (both of whom would go onto successful solo careers after leaving the group).
As for the video, it's pure psychedelia: a liquid light show, makeup, and long hair--and in black and white! The clip was originally broadcast on a Dutch TV show, Hoepla, and is available to us thanks to the miracle that is YouTube.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
No Soft Machine fans? Maybe this one is more to your liking.
In Britain, folk rock took a decidedly interesting twist: bands would find songs written centuries ago and "update" them with electric instruments. Such was the case of Steeleye Span, who had a Top Five hit with this 19th century ditty in 1976.
It makes me sad that in the U.S., we have such a limited pop music radio palette, as this song and the above two should have been hits on this side of the pond. Steeleye's Maddy Prior was an incredible singer--and still is, judging by more recent videos I've seen. She still fronts a version of the band which includes fiddler Peter Knight and bassist Rick Kemp, both also in this video.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Jeepers! So much great music in this thread!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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So far, we've explored "classical" rock, jazz rock, and folk rock. What's left? How about some early country rock?
The Flying Burrito Brothers were an offshoot of the Byrds ("Mr. Tambourine Man," "Turn Turn Turn"). Bassist Chris Hillman and singer/guitarist Gram Parsons split from that band to form their own in '68. The result was one of the first honest-to-Gosh country rock bands, predating Poco and the Eagles.
Unfortunately, the Burritos left it to other bands to capitalize on their innovations. Parsons was ejected from the band not long after this TV clip was made in 1970; he died three years later of a drug overdose. The Burritos continued on with constantly shifting personnel, often featuring lineups with no original members.
The guitarist in this video, by the way, is Bernie Leadon, who went on the co-found the aforementioned Eagles.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Not exactly a '60s/'70s video--except by association of the song and the musicians--but it's just so rare I couldn't resist.
This is the Byrds performing "Mr. Tambourine Man" and joined onstage by the song's writer, Bob Dylan.
The video is probably from 1989, when three ex-Byrds--Roger McGuinn, David Crosby, and Chris Hillman--reunited to protect their claim to the Byrds' name, which had been challenged by the other two ex-originals, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke. Even though the circumstances behind the reunion were dubious, great concert footage resulted from it. Where else are you going to see Crosby and Dylan performing together?
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
For my money, John Wetton pretty much defines "smexy" in this classic video from Family, a band I might never have gotten around to listening to, if it weren't for the magic of Youtube!
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: For my money, John Wetton pretty much defines "smexy" in this classic video from Family, a band I might never have gotten around to listening to, if it weren't for the magic of Youtube!
Quite a find, Eryk! I'd never heard Wetton's work with Family before. (Loved the xylophone!)
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by rickshaw1: I don't know if this is smexy, but it kinda falls into the Southern California Three's Company Boz Skaggs style I remember from then.
I remember when "Love Will Find a Way" was a hit. It's soothing to listen to it again. Wonderful memories!
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
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