Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum

It was 1968 and the radio was playing. It was tuned to a Top 40 station. Suddenly something strange happened/ Were the speakers melting? Would the radio explode? Had someone built Tesla's earthquake machine? None of the above. The local dj was spinning Blue Cheer's Summertime Blues.

The album only contained 6 tracks. Just a little bit over 30 minutes of music. But I'm not sure we could have endured another song or two. You can describe the music in many ways: energetic, alive, pulsing or whatever. The only truly accurate description would be loud. Mind-numbingly loud. Walls meltingly loud. They outlouded them all.

I have to say these old 56 year old ears couldn't take this. Summertime Blues was okay. Memories of that summer long ago came back. Pleasant. Living at home with mom and dad. Trying to be cool but not knowing how. I got through Summertime Blues okay. But the album kept going. The tempos were slow. The feedback screamed. I listened but was thankful when the 31 minutes were up. My head was ringing.

There was also something else about this album. There was something very dark about it. While the rest of music that summer was typically light and positive, Blue Cheer was saying, "Who cares if everything is hopeless, party on". There is a feeling of anarchy and nihilism here. Let's just tear everything down because it is standing there.

I playing Summertime Time Blues for my 14 year old daughter. She thought the music was cool and maybe to her it was. But I said that it wasn't and played Eddie Cochran's version for her. Now that is cool.

I guess it is safe to say that Blue Cheer is not a candidate for an Unplugged album anytime soon.

Beach Boys - Holland

This is my favorite Beach Boys albums. It is a long way from Surfin' Safari. The sound has matured and grown. Brian Wilson has taken a backseat and the rest of the band have contributed songs. The group has moved into the area of becoming a progressive band and a pretty good one at that.

The album opens with Sail On Sailor. Blondie Chaplin's vocals drive the song. The intricate harmonies brings back memories of Beach Boys classics. This could easily one of the best Beach Boy songs ever.

Steamboat is an interesting production and composition. the music chugs along just like, well, a steamboat. Again the harmonies soar and make the song memorable. Dennis Wilson shows he can compose.

The rest of the songs are strong and offer a unique collection of styles, genres and sounds. The thing that really ties them together is the sheer quality of the project. Which is a shame because the Beach Boys were to soon abandon this direction and become an Oldies But goodies act. But for this brief moment the Beach boys were a creative and progressive band that could hold their own with anybody.

Fairport Convention - 1st

This album really surprised me. I had never heard it before. I expected the familiar sounds of Fairport Convention's taditional folk. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to hear something different. This was more folk rock than the later stuff by this band. many of the cuts could have been from the Byrd's Notorius Byrd Brothers or something from early Jefferson Airplane. This could have easily fit in with the West coast sound. Not much here of traditional British folk.

Probably a lot of this can be attributed to the songs they chose to record. They do Joni Mitchell, Emitt Rhodes and Bob Dylan. This before Sandy denny joined the band and they are clearly trying to find a niche. Ian Matthews shines in the vocals he contributes. They will soon develop that style we know so well as Fairport convention now. This is interesting and somewhat experimental and well worth a listen.

Frank Zappa - Hot Rats

From 1969 comes this album that is hard to categorize. One song with vocals. One neo-classical piece. The rest are some form of jazz-rock fusion.

And it is all delightful.

The main piece may be Peaches En Regalia. A sort of classical piece which fully uses all of Ian Underwood's talents. The piece just along nicely and makes you wish it lasted longer. Zappa is showing his talent as composer, arranger and producer.

Hot Rats features the inimitable Captain Beefheart on vocals. He grunts, groans, screeches and screams his way through verses at the beginning and end. In between is a breathtaking guitar solo by Frank Zappa as he shows his talents as a musician.

The rest of the album is made up of jazz rock fusion music. The pieces are extended and allows the musicians to stretch out a little. And what a treat this is.

Prior to this album Zappa was known more as a novelty act. The weirdo who makes strange music. Here he becomes a guitarist, composer, arranger and producer at the top of his field.

I remember walking back to my apartment after purchasing this album for $4.11 at RPM Records in Morgantown, WV. I admit it took a few listens to get accustomed to this music. But 40 years later I am still listening.

The Yes Album

This is the third album by Yes. It is the first to make the charts when it reached number 40 in 1971. It set the stage for Fragile.

I remember hearing this for the first time on WDVE in Pittsburgh, Pa. Your Move and Yours Is No Disgrace were certainly different even for a progressive radio station. It was light years away from typical Top 40 radio.

The album is dominated by long pieces of music which allow the very talented musicians to spread out and create. At times it sounds symphonic. This was clearly a band to be reckoned with. Steve Howe had just recently joined the band and he seems to have been a catalyst. The Yes Album is their first release made up entirely of songs composed by band members. At times the band doesn't sound like individual instruments but a machine with each of its parts meshing and working perfectly together. And over the top of it all is Jon Anderson's wonderful and soaring vocals.

What a great album. If Yes had never recorded anything else they deserve their place in rock history with this effort alone.

Head --- The Monkees

This is a strange choice, but I have been listening to it lately. Strangely it is not as bad as I remembered it. It is an example of a pop group trying to be heavy. Kind of the Monkees trying to record Sgt. Pepper. It has lots of filler. Little comic bits that are mildly entertaining but wear thin quickly. The real songs aren't as bad as might be expected.

Lets face it, in their day the Monkees were a decent pop band. They recorded lots of tight little commercial ditties. There was nothing wrong with that. Who cares if they didn't play their own instruments on the recordings? They were fun. Try to beat Pleasant Valley Sunday as an upbeat song of that era.

This album is another matter. It is in reality the soundtrack of the failed attempt at a movie. The movie fails to hold up at all. But the music behind it is a different matter. The album opens with a Goffin/king song, Porpoise Song. You almost feel you are under water. it is light and swirling all at the same time.

Mike Nesmith adds Circle sky. he always was the most creative force in the band. This effort as a songwriter adds to his reputation. Later releases have a live version which is superior to the studio recording. It is alive and throbbing, but not heavy.

Davey Jones brings things to halt with Harry Nilsson's Daddy's Song. It is much what you would expect from Jones and his Broadway musical experience. But it doesn't really fit in here. it is all wrong.

Peter Tork contributes a couple of songs. Can You Dig it? and do I have to do this all over again. Both are worthy efforts. Can You Dig It? is mellow and trippy. Do I Have To do This All Over Again rocks out unabashedly. It shows the Monkees as decent musicians for that era.

The real treasure of the album is As We Go Along, another Carole King song. It is soft and inspiring. Very listenable and deserving more attention than it got.

Overall, Head is a mixed bag. Forget all the studio extras and voice-over strange sounds and pare this down to the music and it isn't bad at all. In the time of the White Album and Vanilla Fudge and Cheap thrills, the Monkees released a decent effort that is still enjoyable all these years later. Could we have admitted that then?

Welcome to Rock Dreams

I have always wanted to go back and re-examine rock music. To return to the old albums and bands of my youth. To listen to the old music with more experienced ears. How will Jefferson Airplane sound to my 50-plus year old ears? What about Jimi Hendrix? Will the beatles still be fresh and exciting? Are the Rolling Stones still bad boys? How will this all pan out?

I will go back and give the old albums new listens. I will examine each in its own context and time. I will look at all kinds of music like soul, acid rock, folk rock, surf music, garage, progressive, grunge, fusion, jazz and whatever you can think of. I will re-listen to the British Invasion, the undergound music, Woodstock, protest music and so many more. I can't wait to put on my Sennheiser headphones and crank up Jethro Tull, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, Donavan, the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, Sonny and Cher, Phil Spector and countless others.

So fasten your seatbelts and grad a tight hold onto your seats. This should be something. And I can assure you that this journey will, like the music itself, be fun.