John Mayall with Eric Clapton - Blues Breakers

In early 1966, there were two bands vying for the attention of blues lovers in London and the UK. They were The Yardbirds and the band led by John Mayall. Imagine the excitement therefore when 'The Yardbirds' (later known as 'Roger The Engineer') was released on 15 July 1966, followed three days later by 'Blues Breakers' by John Mayall featuring guitar 'God' Eric Clapton. However, while The Yardbirds were moving away from their blues roots and released an album consisting solely of their own compositions, Mayall remained true to his roots. For me, there is no competition. 'Blues Breakers'  wins hands down!



By 1966, Mayall was already 33 years old and having served his national service in Korea and been a student at Manchester College of Art during which period he played with a number of semi-professional bands, he decided in 1963 to devote himself to music full time. Hence The Bluesbreakers were formed. In 1964, Mayall with Hughie Flint on drums, John McVie on bass and Roger Dean on guitar, backed John Lee Hooker on his tour of Britain. A recording contract with Decca Records followed and a live album was recorded at Klooks Kleek in December 1964. It did not sell well and the contract was terminated.

Then, in March 1965, The Yardbirds scored a major hit with the Graham Gouldman song  'For Your Love'. After two years with the group, guitarist Eric Clapton decided they were not moving in the direction he wished, so he replaced Roger Dean in the more blues oriented Bluesbreakers. There were some live dates which attracted a great deal of attention but then Clapton left to travel to Greece. Peter Green was drafted into The Bluesbreakers but eventually Clapton returned and the band went into Decca Studios in March 1966.

The original intention had been to record a live album, but attempts to do so at London's Flamingo Club (with Jack Bruce on bass) ended in poor quality recordings so the band resorted to recording in Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London.

The tracks recorded were mainly drawn from their live repertoire of blues standards by people like Ray Charles, Little Walter, Otis Rush and Freddie King, however they also included four Mayall compositions and one joint composition by Mayall and Clapton. The iconic cover showed the four rather glum looking band members seated on a kerb side in front of a graffiti scrawled wall. Clapton is reading a copy of a popular UK children's comic called 'The Beano', leading to the LP becoming known as The Beano album.

The band play well and are clearly a tight unit with Mayall demonstrating his multi instrumental skills on piano, Hammond organ and harmonica. They are also augmented by a few session players on horns. Essentially however, the album is a showcase for the guitar talents of Eric Clapton.




'All Your Love'
The album kicks of with the distinctive slide guitar opening to this great Otis Rush song. Originally written and recorded by Rush in 1958, the full title was 'All Your Love (I Miss Loving)'. A fairly basic twelve bar blues, it is a great vehicle for Clapton's guitar work and a number of other artists have either covered it or ripped it off. Peter Green, Clapton's replacement in the Bluesbreakers later wrote the hit song 'Black Magic Woman' which he acknowledged was basically a re-write of 'All Your Love'.

'Hideaway'
This instrumental written by Freddie King and Sonny Thompson was first released as a single by King in 1960 and thereafter became something of a staple for aspiring blues artists. King himself has acknowledged that the song was adapted from 'Taylor's Boogie' by Hound Dog Taylor though he may have taken a later adaptation of the song by Magic Sam and Shakey Jake Harris. Eric Clapton had been familiar with King's version for a few years when he recorded his with Mayall using a slightly jazzier rhythm than the original.

'Little Girl'
This catchy little Mayall composition promises the girl of the title that she can forget about the eighteen years of pain she has been through because Mayall is going to leave her with a love child!  I'm not sure how that would have gone down with any feminists who were around in 1966 but it's a catchy number nonetheless.

'Another Man'
Coming in at fifteen seconds under two minutes, this inconsequential Mayall composition has little to say. Basically 'Another man done gone', he's 'on the country farm' and 'didn't know his name'. There is no guitar on the track which is redeemed by some fine harmonica vamping from Mayall.

'Double Crossing Time'
Written jointly by Mayall and Clapton, this is a song about being cheated and betrayed. Allegedly it was written in response to Jack Bruce turning his back on Mayall to join successful 'pop' group, Manfred Mann. Mayall lays down the piano backing leaving Clapton to play some fine lines on his then trademark Gibson Les Paul.

'What'd I Say'
This 1959 song broke Ray Charles into the charts and gained him a great deal of attention among both white and black audiences. Mayall plays some fine piano and Hammond organ and even Hughie Flint gets in on the act with a drum solo, while Eric Clapton is restricted to a short but blistering guitar solo. Towards the end he uses the guitar riff from The Beatles' 'Daytripper'.

Side two of the original vinyl album began with another John Mayall composition -
'Key To Love'
The brass accompaniment from John Almond, Alan Skidmore and Derek Healey, really help to keep this track rocking as does the great guitar break from Clapton. A great start to side two.

'Parchman Farm'
Bukka White and Son House had both written and performed blues songs about the Mississippi State Penitentiary (known as Parchman Farm) but this is a cover of a later Mose Allison song that had featured on his 1963 album, 'Mose Allison Sings'. John McVie drives the rhythm on bass while Mayall blows some great harmonica between his vocals. According to Mayall, his young guitar protege found the riff too boring so he sat this one out.

'Have You Heard'
The longest track on the album is a great slow blues composition in the key of C by John Mayall. Introduced by the saxophones of Almond and Skidmore with a plodding bass line from McVie, Mayall eventually comes in on vocals and is answered by great guitar work from you know who. It's a superb band performance and one of Mayall's strongest early compositions.

'Rambling On My Mind'
Being a great fan of Robert Johnson, it was probably Clapton's idea to include this song originally dating from Johnson's November 1936 session. Clapton takes his only vocal on this album (also his first solo lead vocal on record) and of course plays great Delta blues guitar with fine piano backing from Mayall.

'Steppin' Out'
Written by James Bracken (co-owner and founder of Vee-Jay Records), this blues instrumental was obviously a great favourite of Eric Clapton as he continued to perform it with Cream, often going into free-form jazz arrangements with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker lasting up to fifteen minutes. Here, he keeps it down to 2 minutes 30 seconds but packs a lot into that time backed by vamping horns and organ. Mayall even manages to squeeze in one short Hammond organ solo before Clapton is back taking the song to it's glorious climax.

'It Ain't Right'
As one would expect on a Little Walter song, Mayall's wailing harmonica features very heavily on the album's closing track.

The album was very influential, inspiring a number of other bands to pursue the blues. Unusually for a blues album, it also made the UK top ten. Mayall was soon to lose Eric Clapton to 'greater' things but he continued to lead his own band and continually selected the best young musicians to support him. The list of musicians who worked with Mayall, reads like a 'who's who' of UK blues music. He also remained true to his roots and never deviated from playing the music he loved most.

Postscript
In 2006, a 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition was issued featuring both stereo and mono versions of the album along with a host of singles and live sessions from around this period.

The Mothers Of Invention - Freak Out!

Besides The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' , another 1966 album that appears to have influenced The Beatles, is 'Freak Out!' credited to The Mothers Of Invention. According to Ian MacDonald in his excellent 'Revolution in the Head', Paul McCartney regarded 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' as 'our 'Freak Out!''

Released by Verve on 27 June 1966, it competes with 'Blonde On Blonde' for being the first double rock LP. (although in the UK the original release was only a single disc). Besides that, it is also cited as being one of the first concept albums though there is not one single unifying theme. As leader Frank Zappa wrote in 'The Real Frank Zappa Book', the idea was that 'each tune had a function within an overall satirical concept'



Ray Collins sang with an R&B covers band called the Soul Giants. After losing their guitar player, Frank Zappa was drafted into the band and they gradually began playing his original material. The Soul Giants morphed into The Mothers and as such they came to the attention of MGM producer, Tom Wilson. As a staff producer for Columbia Records, Wilson had earlier produced three albums for Bob Dylan and also worked with Sun Ra and Simon & Garfunkel. Having heard only one song, 'Trouble Every Day', Wilson believed The Mothers to be a white blues band. His opinion changed when he heard them record 'Who Are The Brain Police?' Nevertheless, he must have been suitably impressed as he managed to secure an almost unlimited budget to record the album by this unknown group. One problem was the group's name which MGM were not happy with. Thus it became The Mothers Of Invention.

The recording sessions took place at TTG Studios in Hollywood between 9 and 12 March 1966. (In his book 'Dangerous Kitchen: The Subversive World of Frank Zappa', Kevin Courrier claims that the album was recorded over three months between November 1965 and January 1966. This seems unlikely as Tom Wilson did not spot The Mothers until November 1965 and signed them to Verve on 1 March 1966). Although an advance of $2,500 dollars had been negotiated, this had not been forthcoming by the time the sessions commenced. So it was that a starving band began recording 'Any Way The Wind Blows' and 'Who Are The Brain Police?' As Wilson became even more enthusiastic, Zappa chanced his arm and asked to rent $500 worth of percussion equipment. Wilson agreed and a crazy session commenced at midnight on Friday 11 March involving all the freaks from Sunset Boulevard crowded into the studio. That prompted manager Herb Cohen to ask 'What the hell you gonna do with all those drums at 1.00 in the morning?' The result was the final track on the double album 'The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet' despite the band not having the time to finish it. The total cost for the album ran to $21,000, far exceeding the normal $5,000 for a debut album. Effectively, Wilson put his job on the line to make this record.

It is impossible to categorise the music on 'Freak Out!' as it veers between pop, doo-wop, avant garde jazz, psychedelic rock and other trends that are impossible to label. Go listen to the album now - yes, do as you're told and then remind yourself that despite the technical limitations, this music was recorded in 1966.

These are the 'songs' that appeared on the double version of that iconic release:

'Hungry Freaks, Daddy'
According to the sleeve notes, this song was written for the self styled leader of the LA 'freak' scene, Carl Franzoni, described as being freaky down to his toe nails. Beginning with a riff that rips off The Rolling Stones' 'Satisfaction' released the previous year, the song sets the tone for this album and possibly for the rest of Zappa's career. In 1964 US President, Lyndon B Johnson used the term 'Great Society' to describe his vision of an ideal America. The freaks turned their backs on such a vision prompting Zappa to write the lyrics, 'Philosophy that turns away from those who aren't afraid to say what's on their mind. The left-behinds, of the Great Society.' As good a song as 'Satisfaction' is, this knocks it into a cocked hat.

'I Ain't Got No Heart'
On the album sleeve, Zappa calls this song 'a summary of my feelings on social-sexual relationships'. Using many of the cliches used in love songs, The Mothers deliver an anti-love song with lines like  'no angels singing up above today' and 'Why should I be stuck with you? It's just not what I want to do.' Overall it's a great pop song but so far there has been nothing so drastically different to other things going on in the world of pop albums. All that changes with the third track.

'Who Are The Brain Police?'
Beginning with a doom-laden two-note bass introduction, the sound of creaking doors accompany Ray Collins' groaning voice. 'What will you do if we let you go home? And the plastic's all melted and so has the chrome.' Then higher register voices appear creepily asking 'Who are the brain police?' After the second verse, the song goes into a free-form section where background voices repeat 'I think I'm going to die.' The song even includes a portion which is cut from side three's 'Help I'm A Rock'.
This is one creepy, scary song and even Frank Zappa agreed to being scared when he 'finally played it out loud and sang the words.' Now we know that we are not listening to any run of the mill pop record.

No sooner does this end when the mood changes dramatically with:
'Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder'
Following a semi-spoken introduction the listener is transported back to the 1950's with a doo-wop anti-love song. As Zappa says in the sleeve notes, 'This is very greasy. You should not listen to it. You should wear it on your hair. Behind all the vocals listen out for some lovely tinkling piano accompaniment and tasteful vibes.

'Motherly Love'
A musical come on to the hoards of groupies that followed bands around. The title may be a double entendre but the lyrics are clear enough.

'How Could I Be Such A Fool'
Like 'Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder', this is another song of betrayal. A love ballad that constantly changes tempo and features some lush mariachi sounding trumpet behind the final verse.

And so ends side one which features some fine pop songs sandwiching the very strange 'Brain Police'.

Side two begins with the very jaunty and uptempo
'Wowie Zowie'
Another song in the doo-wop style beloved of Zappa, this would just be another goofy pop song in the style of 'Wooly Bully' were it not for some of the lyrics. Zappa writes in the sleeve notes that 'This is carefully designed to suck the twelve year old listener into our camp.' Musically it is most notable for some great xylophone playing.

'You Didn't Try To Call Me'
As Zappa says, this 'is not revolutionary, but is interesting.' Personally I really like the melody which I gather was actually put together in the studio unlike the following song which Zappa wrote in about 1963.

'Any Way The Wind Blows'
An accessible pop song that was written while Zappa was considering divorcing his first wife Kay Sherman.

'I'm Not Satisfied'
According to Zappa, this is okay and safe. He's spot on as it is the weakest 'song' on the album.

'You're Probably Wondering Why I'm Here'
The second side of the album ends with Zappa turning the tables on his audience. Having lured them into a false sense of security with the previous three songs, he hits out.
Rather arrogantly and contemptuously, he sings 'I think your life is incomplete, but maybe that's not for me to say. They only pay me here to play.'
Effectively Zappa was trying to shake up the record buying public and those who attended live shows, into not just accepting what was served up to them. Musically the song is interesting for some demented bass vocals and crazy kazoo playing.

'Trouble Every Day'
This song begins side three and was the song heard by Tom Wilson convincing him he was signing a white blues band. Inspired by the riots that took place the previous August in the Watts neighbourhood of Los Angeles, resulting in 34 deaths; this was Zappa's response to the racial unrest. A straight forward bluesy rocker, I wonder how much this might have been on John Lennon's mind when he came up with 'Revolution'.

From here on in, the album starts to get a bit 'weird'.

'Help, I'm A Rock'
Despite being dedicated to Elvis Presley, this piece about not accepting alienation appears to be a reply to the Paul Simon 1965 song 'I Am A Rock'. A monotonous beat pounds as some gibberish words are sung. This leads into the repetitive chant of the title. This segues into:

'It Can't Happen Here'
This is the craziest and least harmonic barber-shop quartet you've ever heard in your life. Eventually Zappa addresses the fictitious character Suzy Creamcheese. His advances are well and truly rejected.

The final side of the album is taken up by one piece of 'music'.

'The Return Of The Son Of Monster Magnet'
This was the unfinished ballet inspired by Edgard Varese and Igor Stravinsky, that required the rental of $500 dollars worth of percussion equipment. Basically it is twelve minutes of screaming, yelping and nonsense lyrics. Like The Beatles' 'Revolution 9' it is a piece I rarely played then and never play now.

The cover of the album listed some 170 people who had somehow inspired Frank Zappa and his music. According to Zappa, the list was intended to help those wishing to understand the album. This kind of acknowledgement of influences was a theme that The Beatles would use graphically on the cover of 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.

Upon it's release, the album received some scathing reviews  and according to 'The Real Frank Zappa Book', the initial sales amounted to 30,000 units. The accounting statement indicated that the band owed MGM money! However, the album has grown in status since then and as Simpsons creator Matt Groening has said, 'It was crude and ugly, and incredibly sophisticated.'

There was certainly something in there for everyone.

A host of session musicians are listed on the album cover as The Mothers' Auxiliary and there were some additional musicians who were never credited. The Mothers Of Invention at that time were:
Frank Zappa - musical director, guitar & vocals
Ray Collins - Lead vocalist, harmonica, tambourine, finger cymbals, bobby pin & tweezers Jim Black - Drums (also sings in some foreign language)
Roy Estrada - Bass & guitarron; boy soprano
Elliot Ingber - Alternate lead & rhythm guitar with clear white light



Postscript:
In 2006, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of 'Freak Out!', the Zappa Family Trust issued 'The MOFO Project/Object' which offers the original stereo mix of 'Freak Out!' as well as a host of unreleased material. It comes in both 2 and 4 CD versions and in my opinion is definitely worth getting.

Bob Dylan - Blonde On Blonde

On 17 May 1966, (the day after the release of 'Pet Sounds'), Bob Dylan and his band The Hawks were booed at Manchester Free Trade Hall. They were reaching the end of their tour and the boos culminated in a shout of 'Judas' from a member of the audience who objected to folk hero Dylan using an electric backing band. The event has since been well documented and has now gone down as part of rock'n'roll folk-lore.

Soon after, Columbia Records released Dylan's seventh studio album the double disc, 'Blonde On Blonde'. I say soon after, for the actual release date of the album is rather vague. Most put the date as 16 May 1966, the day before the infamous Manchester concert. However, that date is disputed by writer Michael Gray who claims in his 'Bob Dylan Encyclopedia' that the album was not readily available until June or early July. In the UK, the album was released and charted in August 1966.

Whatever the date, it would certainly be one of the first, if not the first double albums in rock/pop history. (It vies for that accolade with 'Freak Out!' by The Mothers of Invention, which was also issued in June 1966). It also continues the development of Bob Dylan the rock musician as opposed to Bob Dylan the protest folk singer. Having released an album 'Bringing It All Back Home' in March 1965, on which he played one side of rock'n'roll songs backed by amplified, electric instruments, he then caused something of a furore at the July 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he donned an electric guitar and was backed by members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Not content with that, in August that year he released his first fully-fledged rock album, the incendiary 'Highway 61 Revisited'. Don't go thinking that it was only the loud raucous music that offended his folk-purist fans, for the lyrics also were far removed from anything Dylan had done previously. In fact they were far removed from anything that had gone previously! It was rock'n'roll and poetry fused as one!

So effectively, aside from being a double album, 'Blonde On Blonde' did not come as so much of a shock. Even the inclusion of 'Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands' which clocked in at over eleven minutes and took up all of side four of the album, was not totally new. The previous album had included 'Desolation Row' which was almost identical in length. What really set 'Blonde On Blonde' apart from its predecessors, was the sound. It was what Dylan himself described in 1978 as 'That thin, that wild, mercury sound. Metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up'. Bob Dylan had completed the journey from folk hero to electric messiah.



The recording sessions began on 5 October 1965 at Columbia Recording Studio A in New York with members of Dylan's touring band, The Hawks (soon to be renamed The Band). Further attempts were made in the same studio on 30 November, then on 21 January 1966, 25 January and 27 January, the latter two sessions with a slightly different line up of musicians. From these sessions, only one track 'One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)' made it onto the released album.

Recognising that Dylan was dissatisfied with his attempts to record in New York, producer Bob Johnson suggested a move to Nashville where they could utilise Nashville session musicians. Despite objections from Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman, Dylan agreed and the first session took place at Columbia Studio A in Nashville on 14 February 1966. They continued for three days and then possibly reconvened for three days between 7 and 9 March. I say possibly because musician Al Kooper has disputed the fact that there were two blocks of sessions in Nashville. It was also suggested that the musicians present were not kept fully occupied and sat around chatting and smoking while Dylan laboured on his own attempting to complete the lyrics to his satisfaction.

The released record came in a gatefold sleeve with a slightly out of focus photo of Dylan spanning the front and back covers. Neither his name, nor the album title appeared on early copies. Wrapped in a double breasted brown suede jacket with a checked scarf thrown around his neck, he stares unsmiling into the camera, his face framed by a mop of wild, unkempt brown hair. Aside from the serious expression, he could hardly have looked more different from the grainy image of the young man in a work shirt that adorned the front of 'The Times They Are A-Changin'',  from three years before. As he had predicted, the times had indeed changed.

There's a party going on, or so it seems in album opener 'Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35'.
Kenny Buttrey announces the shenanigans with his drummed intro before Dylan's harmonica, the trumpet of Wayne Butler and trombone and tuba begin this joyous melody. According to Dylan, 'everybody must get stoned' and on this recording it seems that they are all having a great time; hell even Dylan can't even stop himself from laughing. It's an infectious opener which was recorded on the evening of March 9 and into the following morning.

It's down to earth with a bump for 'Pledging My Time' which is a slow, pulsing 12 bar blues song. Opening with Dylan's harmonica, the blues feel continues thanks to guitar from Robbie Robertson and rolling piano chords from Hargus (Pig) Robbins. Lyrically, the meaning of the song is ambiguous but it is not uplifting. Strangely for some reason, the mono UK version is about ten seconds longer than the version issued in the US.

Acoustic guitar and wailing harmonica introduce the next song before Dylan delivers that classic opening line 'Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet'. 'Visions of Johanna' then takes us on a journey through places where 'the heat pipes just cough' and introduces a host of strange characters. Much has been written about the apparent meanings of the song but one theory suggests that it came about during a power blackout that took place on 9 November 1965. The original title 'Freeze Out' tends to support this, as do lines such as, 'lights flicker from the opposite loft', 'we sit here stranded', 'the heat pipes just cough' and of course, 'there's nothing, really nothing to turn off'. Nevertheless the finished song seems to be more concerned with atmosphere rather than specific meaning. In that respect, it works. 'The ghosts of electricity howl from the bones of her face'. Indeed!

Originally recorded as a more uptempo song during the New York sessions, Dylan eventually settled on the released version where he was superbly backed by guitarist Charlie McCoy, Joe South on bass, Kenny Buttrey on drums and Al Kooper on organ.

'One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later)' is the only song that survived from the New York sessions. It stands apart from the other songs in that it lacks that metronomic drumming of Kenny Buttrey, but the album would definitely be weaker without this glorious song. Against the shimmering organ of Al Kooper and Paul Griffin's piano lines, Dylan joyously releases his feelings of guilt, bitterness and loss. Addressing the woman with whom he thought he had an 'open' relationship, he apologises for having hurt her. 'And I told you, as you clawed out my eyes that I never really meant to do you any harm'.
And so ends side one of the original long playing record.

Side two opens with Dylan addressing the new object of his desires in 'I Want You'. However far from being a straight forward declaration of desire, in this short bouncy tune, Dylan introduces us to another host of weird and wonderful characters including a guilty undertaker, a lonesome organ grinder and a dancing child who some commentators state may refer to Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones. Recorded at the final Nashville session, this song is the shortest on the album at just over three minutes and was appropriately issued as a single in June 1966. Incidentally, this song was almost ten seconds longer on the mono UK version than the US version.

It is followed by the equally bouncy 'Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again' which was just called 'Memphis Blues Again' on the original album. What a wonderful piece of programming to have these songs follow each other as they complement each other perfectly. Despite being another song that is impossible to decipher the true meaning, the effect of the song is uplifting. Just listen to how Buttrey drives the rhythm and Al Kooper fills the few spaces with those wonderful 'wild mercury' organ fills. This was the only song to be worked on during the 16 February Nashville session and took twenty takes to complete.

'Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat' is track three on the second side of the record. Whether the structure of this song was borrowed from Lightning Hopkins is open to debate but nevertheless it is a rollicking, romping blues that may or may not be about the model and aspiring actress, Edie Sedgwick. Despite being a relatively straight forward blues, it still took thirteen takes to complete. The mono version in the UK was for some perverse reason slightly shorter than the US version.

The first disc closes with probably the most commercial song on the whole album, 'Just Like A Woman'. Even those who don't like Bob Dylan tend to like this lilting love song. Recorded at the 8 March Nashville session, the recording features beautiful nylon strung guitar from either Joe South or Charlie McCoy, piano from Hargus Robbins and distinctive organ from Al Kooper. Robbie Robertson was present at the session but did not play on this song.

Side three of the album is in some ways the weakest side as the songs tend to be less strong, yet they emphasise how well the sequence has been programmed as the five tracks work very well together. Beginning with 'Most Likely You Go You Way (And I'll Go Mine)' which with it's brass accompaniment and it's moderate blues tempo echoes the album opener, the side continues with 'Temporary Like Achilles', a slower piano backed blues number. These appear to have been recorded in this sequence in Nashville on 9 March 1966. In my view, these 'lesser' songs sound punchier and better in the original mono mix rather than stereo.

The centrepiece of side three is another uptempo number 'Absolutely Sweet Marie' which is yet another song difficult if not impossible to interpret. The melody appears to have been stolen by Steve Harley for his number 1 hit 'Come Up And See Me (Make Me Smile)'. This was the only song recorded at the session on 7 March 1966 although it is likely that the musicians were assembled then, though the actual recording may not have commenced until the early hours of the following day.

'4th Time Around' was recorded in several attempts on 14 February 1966 and seems to have been the first song worked on after the move from New York to Nashville. However it appears that harpsichord and drum overdubs were added as late as 16 June which would appear to support Michael Gray's theory that the album was not released in May. Whether these overdubs were actually used in the final recording, is open to debate.

A beautiful melody with rolling, circular acoustic guitar accompaniment, this song has often been cited as a reply to The Beatles 'Norwegian Wood' which they recorded for their 1965 album, 'Rubber Soul'. This John Lennon song had clearly been influenced by Dylan himself so Dylan may have been paying a homage to Lennon or, as Lennon interpreted later, it may have been a warning not to use Dylan's ideas. Lyrically the song appears to begin in the middle of an argument between a pair of lovers. It begins, 'When she said "Don't waste your words, they're just lies" I cried she was deaf'. Musically this is the strongest track on side three and stands out as being different to anything else on the album.

'Obviously Five Believers' suffers by comparison to the previous song. A straight forward, rocking blues, it was recorded at the same session that provided the opening tracks from this third side. In my view this track sounds far better in mono than in stereo where the instruments are too widely spread and consequently the song seems to rock less.

Flip the second disc over to side two (the fourth side of the album) and you find only one track, the eleven minute plus 'Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands'. Recorded at the end of the 15 February session, the song was actually written there and then in the studio. Apart from three earlier takes which were little more than rehearsals, the backing musicians had no idea what to expect from the song. Kenny Buttrey explained that the band continued to peak at the end of each verse, thinking that they were reaching the conclusion of the song.
That does not occur until 11 minutes and 23 seconds have elapsed. In a song of that length, there is a lot to analyse and many attempts have been made to reveal the true meaning. Initially Dylan declared it the best song he had written but three years later he said that he just kept writing and couldn't stop despite forgetting what he intended to write about.

The album was generally well received by music critics although some claim that like The Beatles double album (The White Album), it was perhaps three quarters of a superb album. It reached the top ten in both the US and the UK completing that famous trilogy of 'electric' albums began in the spring of 1965.

On 29 July 1966, Bob Dylan fell off his Triumph Tiger motorcycle near his home in Woodstock. The extent of his injuries were never fully revealed and no ambulance was called to the scene but nevertheless, Dylan went into a period of seclusion. This lasted over a year during which time he made some basement recordings with The Band but he did not emerge into the recording studios in Nashville until October 1967. This time, the results would be very different.




 

The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

On 16th May 1966, the album 'Pet Sounds' was released on Capitol Records. It was billed as being by The Beach Boys yet this was not like any of the previous ten studio albums released by that band. Where were the joyful summertime songs of surfing and beaches and girls?

In truth, the billing is rather misleading as the only Beach Boy to play an instrument on the album was creative genius, Brian Wilson. Under the direction of Brian, a host of renowned session musicians, provided the main musical accompaniment while the rest of The Beach Boys laid down the vocal tracks. However it was recorded and produced, the album has regularly featured in a variety of music polls as the best, or at least one of the best albums, of the 20th century and it has often been hailed as the album that inspired The Beatles to spend more time in the studio in the making of their 'masterpiece', 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'. Ironically, Brian Wilson claimed that he himself had been influenced to create 'Pet Sounds' after hearing The Beatles' 'Rubber Soul'.

The sessions for 'Pet Sounds' began as early as July 1965 when work commenced on the instrumental parts of the West Indian traditional song, 'Sloop John B'. (It was originally known as 'The John B Sails'). The idea for recording this song had been brought to Brian Wilson by fellow Beach Boy, Al Jardine. Despite work starting in July, the vocals would not be added until November of that year and work on the remainder of 'Pet Sounds' would not begin in earnest until between January and March of 1966. The musicians involved in these sessions are simply too numerous to mention here and no accurate record exists as to who played on which session. Also it should be remembered that these musicians were the absolute cream of the L.A. music scene at that time and as such they were much in demand and consequently played on scores of sessions during the 1960's. Most of them have therefore been unable to recall which 'Pet Sounds' sessions they were involved with.

Yet it is the instrumentation of this album which really sets it apart from others which were being recorded and released at that time. Forsaking the basic line up of guitars, bass and drums, 'Pet Sounds' features an array of orthodox and very unorthodox musical instruments and sounds ranging from whistles to bicycle bells to Coca-Cola cans. Coupled with the superb production, this makes for a very different sounding album to what people had been listening to.



Lyrically also, this album was different from previous Beach Boys records. The sensitive Brian Wilson had grown tired of and was no longer satisfied with writing the youthful, hedonistic surfing songs they had become famous for. Consequently he began writing more about his own emotional experiences resulting in his collaboration with British born Tony Asher, who Wilson had met in the summer of 1965. Wilson would focus more on the music with Asher inclined to take the lead lyrically, but ideas were shared by both of them. Freed from the gruelling responsibility of touring with The Beach Boys live, Wilson was able to give his full attention to recreating the sounds in the studio that he heard inside his head.

The results were truly remarkable! Indeed, Paul McCartney declared in 1990 that the album blew him out of the water and that no one was educated musically until they had heard that album. High recommendation indeed!

And so to the songs themselves:-
Wouldn't It Be Nice
Written by Brian Wilson, Tony Asher and Mike Love this is lyrically an adolescent teenager's dream of wishing to be old enough to wake up next to his sweetheart. Musically the song goes through numerous changes of tempo. Beginning with a gentle guitar, harp intro, the feeling is shattered by a thunderous drum beat and the listener is instantly transported into the bouncy first verse. The backing tracks were recorded at Gold Star Recording Studios, Hollywood on 22 January 1965 while the problematic vocal tracks were recorded during March and April 1966 at Columbia Recording Studios, Hollywood.

You Still Believe In Me
Originally known as 'In My Childhood' this song is far more restrained than the album opener. The childhood theme of the original song is reflected in the bicycle bell and horn that are used as sound effects. Because these sounds were merged with some of the instrumentation, they proved impossible to remove and were consequently included in what became a more mature song. The instrumental parts were recorded at Western Recorders, Hollywood on 1 November 1965 and January 24 1966, while vocals were added at the same studios through January and February. While the mono version features double tracked vocals by Brian, the stereo mix has a single vocal line.

That's Not Me
The lead vocal on this sensitive song is taken by Mike Love. The words could hardly be further removed from the fun, sun loving Beach Boys of earlier recordings. Here they reveal deep feelings of insecurity. The song which does not feature any strings or wind instruments, was recorded at Western Recorders during February and March 1966.

Dont' Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
While Wilson and Asher talked about dating experiences they hit upon the idea of writing a song which focused upon the non-verbal side of communication between two lovers. The result was this song which is beautifully sung by Wilson without any vocal support from the other group members. When Wilson sings 'listen to my heartbeat, listen, listen, listen', the following bass line from Carol Kaye, replicates the sound of a heart beating. This amazing song was recorded in February 1966 with string overdubs added on 3 April, all at Western Recorders, Hollywood.

I'm Waiting For The Day
Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, this is the oldest original song to feature on the album. Originally written in early 1964 with different lyrics it opens with a heavy drummed introduction from Hal Blaine but settles down as Wilson sings 'I came along when he broke your heart'. Numerous tempo changes add to the sense of unease in this song yet it is beautifully sung by Wilson. Ironically this was a vocal performance that he remained unhappy with. Recorded on 6 March 1966 at Western Recorders, the vocals were added at Columbia Studios, Hollywood later that same month.

Let's Go Away For A While
This beautiful instrumental track would have closed side one of the album had Columbia Records not decided to include 'Sloop John B' as the closer. Brian Wilson referred to this track as the most satisfying piece of music he ever made and one can understand why when listening to this wonderfully crafted work. Gentle vibes open before a simple melody is played by saxophones and lush strings. Once again there are tempo changes and some great percussive effects used towards the end. The track was recorded on 18 and 19 January 1966 at Western Recorders, Hollywood.

Sloop John B
While musically this fine arrangement of an old folk song, fits perfectly well onto the album, lyrically it seems a little out of place. The guitar lines were picked out by session player Billy Strange. The recording commenced on 12 July 1965 and was completed in January 1966 at Western Recorders.

God Only Knows
If one song was to demonstrate the sheer brilliance of Brian Wilson as a writer and orchestrator, this must surely be it. In under three minutes, he creates the absolute perfect 'pop song'. Lyrically Wilson acknowledges 'I may not always love you', but he continues to declare that he has no idea what he would be without the person he is addressing. Musically the strings and saxophones are supported by an array of vocals, sleigh bells, accordions, French horns and percussion. And throughout, lead vocalist Carl Wilson sings sublimely with just the right degree of tenderness required. While the vocal round at the end of the song features Brian and Mike Love in the mono version as Brian sings both his and Carl's parts, the stereo version features Carl's voice in its rightful place.
The song was recorded at Western Recorders between 10 March and April 1966.

I Know There's An Answer
This song was written before Brian Wilson began his collaboration with Tony Asher. Originally titled 'Hang Onto Your Ego' , the idea stemmed from Brian's association with the drug LSD. Written by Brian with Mike Love and Beach Boys road manager, Terry Sachen, Brian decided to change the lyrics of the chorus, hence the change in title. The original version can still be heard as it is included in some CD re-issues of 'Pet Sounds'. The lead vocals are split between Brian, Mike Love and Al Jardine.
The track was recorded between 9 February and March 1966 at Western Recorders.

Here Today
This was the final song commenced during the album recording sessions. Recorded during March 1966, the lead vocals are taken by Mike Love with vocal support from the other Beach Boys. During the instrumental break an unusual conversation can be heard about cameras however this is not included in the stereo mix of the album.

I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
Recorded between February and April 1966, Brian takes lead vocal on this track in which he sums up his feelings that he does not entirely fit in with normal society. The line 'Sometimes I feel very sad' is repeated several times before he declares that he wasn't made for these times. The feeling of being an alien is reinforced by the effective use of the theremin, possibly the first time the device had been used on a pop record and certainly a full year before Captain Beefheart used it on 'Safe As Milk'.

Pet Sounds
The title track is the second instrumental to feature on the album and dates back to November 1965 when Brian was first developing a variety of percussive sounds. Woodblocks feature predominately in the mix as do two Coca-Cola cans played by percussionist Ritchie Frost.

Caroline No
On any other album, this would probably have been the standout track, but 'Pet Sounds' also features 'God Only Knows', thus relegating 'Caroline No' to a close second. In terms of performance this is a 'solo' project by Brian, the song being a bittersweet reflection on love that has gone wrong. Tony Asher took away Brian's ideas on the song and came back with a lyric that said 'Oh Carol, I know' which Wilson heard and preferred as 'Caroline no'. The track was recorded at Western Recorders on 31 January 1966.
The album then closes with the sound of Brian's dogs barking, mixed with a sound effect tape of a train.

Upon release, the front cover of the album showed a photo of The Beach Boys feeding goats at San Diego Zoo. On 2 July 1966, it peaked at number 10 in the US album chart. Although respectable, this was not exactly the kind of success the band had achieved with some of their earlier releases. Nevertheless in August that year, John Lennon and Paul McCartney sat down in a room in New York's Waldorf Hotel. They listened to 'Pet Sounds' twice without speaking and then left promising to 'tell everyone'. At the end of that month, The Beatles played their final live show at Candlestick Park in San Francisco and thereafter concentrated all their efforts on writing and recording. The result would be heard the following summer with 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.

Twelve Inches of Pure Pleasure.

This blog has been created to celebrate the most glorious and influential era of the long playing (LP) record.

Introduced in 1948 by Columbia Records, the LP playing at 33⅓ revolutions per minute (RPM), allowed about twenty minutes of playing time on each side and was thus suited to classical music and musical soundtracks. Their vinyl composition also made them less liable to break than the existing shellac, 78 RPM records.

Prior to the introduction of the LP, pop music had been pretty much confined to singles which consisted of two songs (one per side) of about two or three minutes duration, making them ideal for radio play. The development of the LP allowed such singles to be gathered together and fleshed out with other 'filler' songs to form an album. However by the mid 1960's, more forward thinking artists began to develop the idea of the album as an art form in itself. This led to a very creative period when the long playing record reached it's zenith and sales even began to outstrip those of the shorter and cheaper single record.



Consequently we were to experience concept albums, double albums and even triple albums! The cover art and photography became almost as sought after as the musical content and listeners could add to the aural experience by immersing themselves in the liner notes and eventually the song lyrics.

I intend in the course of this blog to focus on one period which I believe was the absolute pinnacle of creativity as far as the pop/rock album was concerned. The Beatles had led the charge in the early 1960's and with the 1965 release of 'Rubber Soul' had begun to stretch the concept of the 'pop song'. Bob Dylan dared in 1965 to include on 'Bringing It All Back Home' a song 'It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) which was over seven minutes long and then he topped that later the same year when the closing track from 'Highway 61 Revisited' ('Desolation Row') clocked in at over eleven minutes. However, it was in May 1966 that I believe the bar was raised to new heights.

The album in question was The Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds'.