Category: Rock Music

Music from 1960s to the present in rock and roll format.

Jeff Beck Guitar Part 2 VV-019

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JEFF BECK EARLY YEARS 1975-1976

Today’s show is JEFF BECK GUITAR EARLY YEARS — PART 2

During the two years of 1975 – 1976, two Jeff Beck albums BLOW BY BLOW and WIRED, set a standard for instrumental rock.  In today’s podcast episode, JEFF BECK GUITAR PART 2, we review 4 works from the album BLOW BY BLOW, released in 1975, and 3 works from the album WIRED, released in 1976.  In the previous episode JEFF BECK GUITAR PART 1, we reviewed the early years of British, blues-based fusion guitarist Jeff Beck during his recordings with THE YARDBIRDS in 1966, and then his formation of the JEFF BECK GROUP in 1968. By 1975, Beck’s band consisted of Phil Chen on bass, Richard Bailey on drums and Max Middleton on keyboards. Middleton continued on from the earlier Jeff Beck Group. The sound with this new group and this album is instrumental Jazz Fusion It is a sound with influences from Miles Davis, and Mahavishnu Orchestra.

PROGRAM LIST

  1. Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers (Stevie Wonder) Rec Oct 1974, BLOW BY BLOW, Epic Records/Sony Music Entertainment, 1975, 5:42
  2. Freeway Jam (Max Middleton), Rec Oct 1974, BLOW BY BLOW, Epic Records/Sony Music Entertainment, 1975, 4:58
  3. Diamond Dust (Bernie Holland) Rec Oct 1974, BLOW BY BLOW, Epic Records/Sony Music Entertainment, 1975, 8:26
  4. Led Boots (Max Middleton), Rec Oct 1976, JEFF BECK WIRED, Epic Records, 1976, 4:03
  5. Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Charles Mingus, 1959) Rec Oct 1976, JEFF BECK WIRED, Epic Records, 1976, 5:31
  6. Blue Wind (Jan Hammer) Rec Oct 1976, JEFF BECK WIRED, Epic Records, 1976, 5:54
  7. Love is Green (Narada Michael Walden) Rec Oct 1976, JEFF BECK WIRED, Epic Records, 1976, 2:30

9-4-20 at 1333

Jeff Beck Guitar Part 1 VV-018

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JEFF BECK GUITAR EARLY YEARS 1966- 1968

Today’s show is JEFF BECK GUITAR EARLY YEARS — PART 1

In this VINYL VIBRATIONS episode, I tour early vinyl records that showcase ENGLISH ROCK and FUSION GUITARIST GREAT … JEFF BECK. The recordings presented in this podcast are a compilation from my own LP and Singles collection.  Today – we will review six songs from Jeff Beck’s early years, 1966 – 1968:

  1. SHAPES OF THINGS – The Yardbirds (single)
  2. OVER UNDER SIDEWAYS DOWN – The Yardbirds (single)
  3. BECK’S BOLERO – Jeff Beck (single)
  4. GREENSLEEVES – Jeff Beck Group (TRUTH LP)
  5. SHAPES OF THINGS – Jeff Beck Group (TRUTH LP)
  6. MORNING DEW – Jeff Beck Group (TRUTH LP)

Jeff Beck achieved notoriety in the mid 1960’s, through the music of The Yardbirds and their hit song “Shapes of Things”.  He had been working actively as a musician since the age of 19, during the time he was attending college at what is now called the Wimbledon College of Art in London. That college specializes in theatre, screen, and performance art. That’s 1963.

Just five years later, Beck had launched three singles and his debut LP album, TRUTH.­­­

Parts Harmonious VV-008

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PARTS HARMONIOUS            PROGRAM NOTES

In today’s VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, I tour LP records from the 1960s and 1970s in ROCK and POP that featured singing in multi-part harmonies. Today’s show, is called PARTS HARMONIOUS. There have been many TWO PART harmony songs recorded… so today, for further interest and in seeking out those more difficult or complex, we will focus on multi-part harmonious singing—songs having at least THREE vocal parts!

INTRO to PARTS HARMONIOUS (narrate only the names of the groups)

Today we hear multi-part harmonies from songs of these groups:

  • M1 The Byrds, All I Really Want To Do, 1965
  • M2 The Beach Boys, Good Vibrations (1973 performance), 1966
  • M3 The Hollies, On A Carousel, 1967
  • M4 Three Dog Night, One, 1969
  • M5 The Guess Who, No Time, 1970
  • M6 Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Teach Your Children, 1970
  • M7 Poco, Kind Woman, 1971
  • M8 The Doobie Brothers, Livin’ On The Fault Line, 1977

In today’s podcast we will hear eight examples of THREE (or more) PART HARMONIES, produced between 1965 and 1977.  Starting with…The Byrds

M1 Song  All I Really Want To Do, Album (Single), Album Artist The Byrds, Composer Bob Dylan 1964, Year 1965 , Released By Columbia

Bob Dylan wrote the song in 1964 and recorded it in one take. In 1965 Cher did a cover of this song, and it was the feature of her debut  SOLO album “All I Want To Do”. The Byrds single was rush-released by the band’s record label, Columbia Records, when it became known that Cher was about to issue a rival cover version of the song on the Imperial label. The Byrds’ version “All I Really Want to Do” was the second single by Byrds and was released in 1965 by Columbia Records  The song was also included on the band’s debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man, which was also released in 1965… the single, which we will hear next, begins with Jim McGuinn‘s jangling guitar introduction (played on a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar), ascending melody progression in the chorus, the Byrds high-register harmonies – are clearly influenced by the West Coast surf sound…

 

M2 A live version of the song, GOOD VIBRATIONS taped in 1972-1973 and found on the album “The Beach Boys in Concert”  …the second official live album by The Beach Boys,  Song Good Vibrations, Album (Single) (backed with the instrumental “Let’s Go Away For Awhile“), Album Artist Beach Boys, Composers Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Year 1966, Released By Capitol Records.

The Beach Boys was formed in 1961, initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. The Beach Boys were managed by the Wilsons’ father Murry, and signed to Capitol Records in 1962. The band’s early music gained popularity across the United States for its close vocal harmonies . Brian Wilson and Mike Love composed “Good Vibrations” a single released in 1966. The song featured a complex, multi-layered sound. Brian Wilson described “Good Vibrations” as a “pocket symphony”. The song became the Beach Boys’ biggest hit to date and a US and UK number-one single in 1966; Good Vibrations was reputed to have been the most expensive American single ever recorded at that time. The production of the song is reported to have spanned seventeen recording sessions at four different recording studios, and used over 90 hours of magnetic recording tape, with an eventual budget of $50,000.  The group members recall the “Good Vibrations” vocal sessions as among the most demanding of their career, and featured elaborate layers of vocal harmonies.

M3 Song On A Carousel, Album (single), Album Artist The Hollies, Composers Alan Clarke, Graham Nash, Tony Hicks, Year 1967, recorded Abbey Road Studios, Released Parlophone and Imperial

On a Carousel was written by Allan Clarke, Graham Nash and Tony Hicks. It was released by The Hollies as a single in 1967 on the Parlophone label in the UK and the Imperial label in the US. You can hear Graham Nash sing the first few lines. From 1966 until Nash’s departure in 1967, the single release A-sides were all Clarke-Hicks-Nash collaborations; Stop Stop Stop, Carrie Ann, and Carousel.  The Hollies, along with The Rolling Stones and The Searchers, are one of the few British pop groups of the early 1960s that have never officially broken up and that continue to record and perform. The Hollies were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame …43 years after this hit, in 2010.

Featuring

M4 The song One , as covered by Three Dog Night.  Three Dog Night, is best known for their music from 1968 to 1975.  As of 2011, they are still recording and making live appearances. The band started in 1968 with three lead vocalists, Danny Hutton , Chuck Negron, and Cory Wells. They had made some early recordings in 1967 with Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) and initially went by the name of Redwood.  Shortly after abandoning the Redwood name, the vocalists hired a group of backing musicians, and recorded their debut Three Dog Night album. On that debut album, “One” is a song composed by Harry Nilsson, and famous for its opening line “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.” Nilsson wrote the song after calling someone and getting a busy signal. The busy signal became the opening notes of the song. In 1968, Al Kooper (of early Blood Sweat and Tears fame) released the song on his debut album I Stand Alone.  In 1969, Three Dog Night covered the song on this, their debut album Three Dog Night, with Chuck Negron on lead vocal.  On vocals we have Chuck Negron – lead vocals, Danny Hutton  and Cory Wells.

Song  One, Album  Three Dog Night (debut album), Album Artist  Three Dog Night, Composer  Harry Nilsson, Year  1969

M5 Song No Time, Album American Woman, Album Artist The Guess Who, Composer guitarist Randy Bachman and lead singer Burton Cummings, Year 1970 (re-recording), Released By TMK/RCA Corp

The Guess Who is a rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba.  The song is No Time, composed by guitarist Randy Bachman and lead singer Burton Cummings,  The lyrics begin with “No time left for you, On my way to better things, No time left for you, I’ll find myself some wings.” On vocals we have four singers: Randy Bachman the guitarist, Jim Kale the bassist, and Gary Peterson, the drummer, and lead singer is the multi-talented, Burton Cummings, who also plays guitar, piano, organ, flute, keyboards, harmonica on this album. The version we will hear is the 1970 re-recording (as featured on the American Woman album) that is better-known than the single version, also released 1970. The single was the third in a string of #1, million selling singles, in Canada, for The Guess Who. On the American Woman LP, the song is side one, track two after the title song.

 

M6 Song Teach Your Children, Album Deja vu, Album Artist Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Composer Graham Nash, Year 1970, Released By Atlantic Recording Corp

Teach Your Children” was composed by Graham Nash. Although it was written by Nash when he was a member of The Hollies (prox 1966-1967)  it was never recorded by the Hollies. “Teach Your Children” first appeared on the Déjà Vu album by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, released in 1970.    Check out the pedal steel guitar on this song – – that is none other than… Jerry Garcia .  Composer Graham Nash, who is also a photographer and photograph collector, has stated that his inspiration for the song came from afamous photograph by Diane Arbus, “Child with Toy Hand Grenade in Central Park.” The image depicts a child with an angry expression holding the toy weapon, and prompted Nash to write Teach Your Children, about the implications of war on society. Fourteen years later, in 1984, Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale used the song “Teach Your Children” in a campaign commercial on arms control.

Featuring

  • David Crosby, Steven Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young…

Teach Your Children, from the Déjà vu album.

M7  …Kind Woman, is written by Richie Furay (pronounced “foo-RAY”) and is perhaps his best known song.  Composer Richie Furay is also known for forming the Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills and Neil Young, in fact Kind Woman was written during his tenure in Buffalo Springfield. In the late 1960s he formed the band Poco with Jim Messina and Rusty Young. This live version of “Kind Woman”, is found on POCO’s Deliverin’ album, their first live album and third album in all. A wonderful steel guitar part, played by Rusty Young. Soaring harmonies on this album. POCO vocals are supplied by all five members: Jim Messina  and Richie Furay on guitars, Rusty Young on steel guitar, Timothy B. Schmit on bass, George Grantham on drums

Song Kind Woman, Album Deliverin’, Album Artist POCO, Composer Richie Furay, Year recorded 1970, released 1971 , Released Epic

M8 The Doobie Brothers and the Title song from their seventh studio album LIVIN ON THE FAULT LINE, released in 1977. “Livin’ on the Fault Line” was composed by Patrick Simmons, guitar.  The Doobie Brothers vocals are supplied by Michael McDonald on keyboard, Tiran Porter on bass, Keith Knudsen on drums, and Patrick Simmons, the composer, on guitar. :

Song Livin’On The Fault Line, Album Livin’On The Fault Line, Album Artist Doobie Brothers, Composer Patrick Simmons, Year 1977, Released Warner Bros.

Larry Coryell Guitar VV-007

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PROGRAM NOTES

In today’s VINYL VIBRATIONS podcast, we explore jazz guitarist and composer Larry Coryell.

INTRO TO  “LARRY CORYELL”:

Larry Coryell was born in 1943 in Galveston. He is an american jazz fusion guitarist. A long background as a musician, he played in local bands in Texas and later in the Seattle area.  He moved to NYC in 1965  – age 22 – and was part of Chico Hamilton’s quartet. In the late 1960s he recorded with jazz vibraphonist great, great Gary Burton. He also played in the band Free Spirits.  He formed his own group, The Eleventh House, in 1973. Later in the 1970s  in 1979, Coryell formed “The Guitar Trio” with jazz fusion guitarist John McLaughlin and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia. Coryell’s music combined influences and styles of rock, jazz and eastern. That eastern influence was not doubt a result of his interest in the spiritual leader Sri Chimnoy. Coryell’s discography is impressive.  As leader, there are 36 albums, and as sideman, there are many other albums. This podcast follows Larry Coryell’s work from a rich time in his younger years, 1968-1975, or from age 25-32, recording in New York City for Vanguard Apostolic, Mega records  and Arista.

In today’s podcast we will hear six of Larry Coryell’s best !! Starting with…

  • M1 Song Treats Style Album Lady Coryell
  • M2 Song After Later Album Larry Coryell at the Village Gate
  • M3 Song Further Explorations for Albert Stinson Album Fairyland
  • M4 Song Low-Lee-Tah Album Introducing the Eleventh House w Larry Coryell
  • M5 Song Pavane For A Dead Princess Album The Restful Mind
  • M6 Song Level One Album Level One Album Artist Eleventh House featuring Larry Coryell

 

M1  Song Treats Style Album Lady Coryell. Album Artist Larry Coryell. Composer Jim Garrison

 

Larry Coryell was just 25 when this album was recorded in 1968. It is his first album as a leader.By now, LC had recorded two albums with vibraphonist Gary Burton, in his group The Free Spirits. Decades of collaboration would follow between LC and jazz-great Burton, king of the four-mallet style, on jazz vibes. And now in 1968, two more jazz masters are with Coryell  – – Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums … guest artists on this album. Bassist and song composer Garrison played as a sideman with the John Coltrane classic quartet — along with pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones, from 1962-1967. Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones formed the “rhythm section” of the John Coltrane Quartet.  They gave bold physicality to Coltrane, due to the focused intensity of their rhythm section.   You will hear that focused intensity of the rhythm section on this song. This rhythm machine, plus Coryell’s licks provide an outstanding TRIO performance. And there is a Milestone Event for Coryell …on this song, “Treats Style”, Coryell takes his first guitar solo!! Larry Coryell’s blues guitar signature is imitated but never duplicated, such as his solo here in TREATS STYLE.  This is great early LC, in his formative years, in the 1960s,   as jazz guitarist, composer, arranger and co-producer. The album was produced by David Weiss and LC. Treats Style, was composed by the bassist, Jimmy Garrison, who was 35 at the time of this album. By Vanguard Apostolic. Year 1969

Featuring the trio – – –

  • Larry Coryell guitar
  • Jim Garrison Bass
  • Elvin Jones drums

M2 Song After Later, Album Larry Coryell at the Village Gate, Album Artist Larry Coryell, Composer Larry Coryell, Year 1971, By Vanguard Recording Society

Featuring

  • Larry Coryell guitar
  • Mervin Bronson bass
  • Harry Wilkinson drums

Larry Coryell is almost 28 at the time of this show at the Village Gate in NYC. After Later is a jazz-rock guitar instrumental, done, in 10/4 time. On this song we have the driven lead guitar jazz rock style of LC, with distortion and feedback effects.

Some of that overdrive is the unique combination of LC’s choice of what is typically a jazz guitar, a hollow-bodied Gibson ES-185 guitar, very sympathetic to stage vibration, such as from Coryell’s amplifier, feeding back into the guitar body. We also hear the use of the wah-pedal later in the lead guitar and even some guitar-shredding style is heard, to produce those ferocious 16th or 32nd note flurries. And finally, the bending of the notes – owed to blues and rock.

I hear a bit of the Jimi Hendrix Experience in this song. A historical note, Hendrix had died just months before this show, in September of 1970. Maybe it’s my imagination, the connection from Hendrix into Coryell’s powerful lead lines in this song, After Later.

Melodic and powerful. This is an early combination of a jazz-type of guitar (such as the gibson ES-185)  and rock-like effects, like guitar overdrive, feedback and a strong rhythm section supplied by bass and drums to 10/4. This was early Jazz Rock and very exciting, Coryell was definitely on to something, and breaking new ground with this unique guitar sound. This is a jazz format, with the song intro and ending using a formal theme, and the “in between” segment, containing a lengthy guitar improvisation supplied by Coryell. It’s not unlike a fine novel, propped up by two book-ends.

I would have loved to be at that show in 1971, “Larry Coryell at the Village Gate”, New York City. What was I doing. I was a freshman in college…and I had to get my hands on this incredible live album, his fifth album.

I missed the show, but I have played this song, After Later, EASILY a hundred …maybe two hundred or more times !

M3 Song Further Explorations for Albert Stinson, Album Fairyland ,Album Artist Larry Coryell, Composer Larry Coryell, Year 1971 recorded live at Montreux Switzerland, By Mega Records & Tapes

Featuring

  • Larry Coryell guitar
  • Chuck Rainey Bass
  • Pretty Purdie Drums

Coryell is 28 at the is time of this live album, released in 1971. The album was recorded at Montreux, Switzerland. This is again a trio. Again, you can hear Coryell’s large hollow-bodied electric guitar. From the album cover, it appears to be a Gibson ES-185, a very LARGE electric guitar indeed.

Albert Stinson was a American jazz double-bassist who worked with Larry Coryell in 1967-1969. He was nicknamed “sparky” because of his huge, bright tone, and aggressive attack. Stinson died in 1969, of a heroin overdose, while on tour with Coryell. Stinson was 24. His bass playing with Coryell can be found on another 1969 Vanguard album titled “Coryell”, where he supplies the bass tracks for two of the album’s seven cuts. Bassist Chuck Rainey supplies the other bass tracks for the album. And here, on today’s show, from the Fairyland album, Chuck Rainey performs on Further Explorations for Albert Stinson, the song, no doubt, is a tribute to this promising young bassist.

This time period was a particularly TRAGIC one for the music world, with MANY prominent artists lost in the three years of 1969, 1970 and 1971, including Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, Albert Stinson, the subject of this song, Jimi Hendrix, Alan ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson of Canned Heat, Janice Joplin, Jim Morrison of the Doors, and Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band.

M4 Song Low-Lee-Tah, Album Introducing the Eleventh House w Larry Coryell, Album Artist Larry Coryell, Composer Larry Coryell, Year 1974, By Vanguard Recording Society

Featuring

  • Larry Coryell guitar
  • Randy Brecker trumpet
  • Alphonse Mouzon percussion
  • Mike Mandel piano & synth
  • Danny Trifan bass

Coryell is 31 at the time of this album, in 1974.

He had created the group Eleventh House in 1973 —and it was active for 3 years. The Eleventh House was a change in format for Coryell.  He does create a new sound with Eleventh House. Coryell composes this angular, Mahavishnu sounding piece. It’s a rock instrumental, with off beats, improvisation for guitar and trumpet. Earlier, Coryell had played in a trio format, such as from the three albums we heard earlier, LADY CORYELL,  LIVE AT THE VILLAGE GATE, and FAIRYLAND. Eleventh House will add two parts to the trio format. In addition to the trio’s bass-drums-guitar, we add the keyboard-synth of Mike Mandel, and Trumpet of Randy Brecker. Pretty cool. A trumpet part that can drive just as fast, and just as strong as the HOUSE’s lead guitar part. Brecker’s trumpet sound is reminiscent of Miles Davis with reverb, and a mix of melodic lines with …angular lines..The percussionist, Alphonse Mouzon gives a command performance. Alphonse Mouzon was supplied courtesy of Blue Note Records.   This is a jazz format, with a long middle section of improvisation. Coryell composed this angular, Mahavishnu sounding piece.  The song is in mixed time. It’s approximately 4/4, but rhythm is broken into segments having 8-beats measures, followed by several 6+8 beat measures. It’s a pretty catchy rhythm, more of the cerebral level of appeal, a sophisticated style and sound, that sets it apart from anyone else on the jazz-rock scene. Coryell uses pedal effects, including EQ and a synthesizer-like sound effect, sweeping across the soundscape. This song LOW LEE TAH, is directed toward the trumpet line and solo, with Larry Coryell in the role of guitar sideman, with his “Sri Chimnoy” or Mahavishnu sounding rhythm guitar backing and brief guitar solo.

M5 Song Pavane For A Dead Princess, Album The Restful Mind, Album Artist Larry Coryell, Composer Maurice Ravel 1899, Year 1975, By Vanguard Records.

Featuring

  • Larry Coryell in a solo performance on guitar

On THE RESTFUL MIND album we hear another, fantastic side of guitarist Larry Coryell in Pavane For A Dead Princess.

Coryell is 32 at the time of this recording. If you like the work of Maurice Ravel, the french composer, who lived between 1875-1937, you may recognize this song. But the song title, means nothing, as RAVEL stated…”Do not be surprised, that title has nothing to do with the composition. I simply liked the sound of those words and I put them there, c’est tout”. So, the Pavane, title meaning nothing,  …is in slow, 2/2 time. This Ravel song, composed in 1899, received luke-warm early reviews, but has enjoyed popularity both in French and English forms.  The song was written for solo piano.  This is Larry Coryell’s interpretation — he plays the Lo Prinzi acoustic guitar.

 

M6 Song Level One,  Album Level One, Album Artist Eleventh House featuring Larry Coryell, Composer Mike Mandel, Year 1975, By Arista Records

Featuring

  • Larry Coryell guitar
  • Michael Lawrence trumpet and flugelhorn
  • Alphonse Mouzon percussion
  • Mike Mandel piano & synth
  • John Lee bass
  • Steve Kahn 12-string guitar

With Level One, we hear more of the angular Eleventh House sound, now with Michael Lawrence on Trumpet. Larry Coryell, and his lead guitar performance on Level One is against a rhythm framework supplied by the fiery percussion of Alphonse Mouzon and bass of John Lee.  Eleventh House featured the dynamic keyboard synth sounds of Mike Mandel, the composer of this tune. LEVEL ONE is similar in terms of the impact and the feel of the music with  John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

The 1971 Mahavishnu album My Goal’s Beyond, was inspired by John McLaughlin’s decision to follow the Indian spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy, to whom he had been introduced in 1970 ….by Larry Coryell’s manager. Coryell and McLaughlin worked together in 1974 in the group SPACES and again in 1979 with a guitar trio of McLaughlin, Coryell and flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia.  Collaboration continues today with McLaughlin and Coryell,   as recently as 2011.

That was

Song Level One 

Album Level One

Album Artist Eleventh House featuring Larry Coryell

Composer Mike Mandel

Solo Albums VV-003

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Today we look at four Solo Album Artists… These are solo albums in the sense that the music was composed, arranged, performed, often recorded /mixed and produced by the solo artist. These albums are all from the time period of 1970-1972.

1. Pete Townshend and his 1972 solo album, “Who Came First”, on MCA
2. Stevie Wonder and his 1972 solo album, “Music Of My Mind” on Tamla records
3. Paul McCartney and his 1970 solo album titled “McCartney”, on Apple.
4. Todd Rundgren and his 1972 solo album, “Something-Anything”, produced on Warner Bros

M1 We know Pete Townshend as an english rock guitarist vocalist and songwriter — perhaps most famous for his rock opera “Tommy” — and for his over 100 songs composed and the dozen or so studio-produced albums of The Who. But Townshend is also an accomplished singer, keyboardist, synth, bass and accordion player as well as drummer. Amazing fact — he never had formal lessons on the instruments he plays! Here we are in 1972, and Pete Townshend comes out with this solo album ‘Who Came First’. We listen first to his song “Sheraton Gibson” from that solo album “Wh o Came First”, produced in 1972 by MCA –here on Vinyl Vibrations.

M2 Stevie Wonder’s Music of My Mind album, on Tamla, came out in 1972, and is a gem in his series of classic albums full of pop hits in the 1970s. Music of My Mind was produced by Stevie Wonder and written by Wonder, the album is described as ‘virtually the work of one man’. Every single instrument is performed by Stevie Wonder. Compositions, arrangements, performances, production – all Stevie. in 1972 –here on Vinyl Vibrations.

M3 Paul McCartney is one of the most influential songwriters of modern time. With Lennon Harrison and Starr, the Beatles changed the face of pop music forever. McCartney’s first solo album was an amazing work – released on Apple in 1970 – just two weeks before the last Beatles album “Let It Be” was released. On his solo album, McCartney plays the bass, and sings, of course, but he also plays the guitars, piano, drums and organ. The album credits indicate that all instruments and vocals are by Paul, and harmonies are by Linda McCartney. The album was written and produced by Paul. We listen now to “Maybe I’m Amazed” with a beautifully composed and skilled playing of his guitar solo, from the “McCartney” solo album LP in 1970 on Apple –here on Vinyl Vibrations.

M4 Todd Rundgren and “I Saw The Light” from his solo album “Something/Anything” on Warner in 1972. A double album, Something/Anything was an amazing work – all instruments, all voices, all songs, arranged and produced by Todd Rundgren in 1972 on Warner. Rundgren provides all instruments and vocals on three of four sides of these 2-LP set. Instruments include: vocals, keyboard, drums, lead and bass guitars, and percussion. Rundgren is a solid rock lead guitarist, and to have the added talent to play all parts, – it’s amazing. –here on Vinyl Vibrations.

M5 We listen now to On Breathless, Rundgren does overdubs on the keyboard parts, adds drums and percussion and sequencer /sample sounds, plays piano and guitar. In this instrumental composition we have a very colorful melody moving along with lots of musical harmonies –here on Vinyl Vibrations.

M6  Paul McCartney and “Sing Along Junk” from the “McCartney” solo album LP in 1970 on Apple. Paul is on rhythm and lead guitars, piano, drum set and synth. There is a full song version with vocals on that same album, a song titled “Junk”. The song you just heard is the “Junk” version WITHOUT vocals, the “karaoke” version, or “music plus one” version, if you will, and it is titled “Singalong Junk”. What a beautiful composition and instrumental on its own from solo artist Paul McCartney –here on Vinyl Vibrations.

M7 We close out today’s show with Stevie Wonder’s hit song “Superwoman”, from his solo album ‘Music of My Mind’. Here Stevie plays the keyboards, drums and bass, composes the song and produces the album. NOTE that there is a lead guitar solo provided by stand-in Buzzy Feiton. I do remember seeing Stevie Wonder in about 1968, at the Rubber Bowl in Akron Ohio, where Stevie was opening for the Rolling Stones. I remember Stevie’s show, he moved from keyboard to drums back to keyboard and to bass, moving all around that stage. It was a sight to see, knowing Steve is himself blind. Again, the song is Superwoman”, from Stevie Wonder’s solo album ‘Music of My Mind’, in 1972, –here on Vinyl Vibrations.