“We Don’t Care” by Manfred Hübler & Siegfried Schwab from Vampyros Lesbos Sexadelic Dance Party (Soundtrack to Vampyros Lesbos) [1970]

David Axelrod met Barbarella in the score of Vampyros Lesbos, a sexy European exploitation film about female vampires. Soft gore with soft core, said one critic of the 1971 cult classic. The soundtrack by Manfred Hübler and Siegfried Schwab (recording under the name Vampires’ Sound Incorporation) itself became a cult classic, enough to earn the CD reissue I found. Have a listen above. Watch the (NSFW) film trailer here (worse quality but with English subtitles here). Read more and find a few links here (also the source of the paraphrase above).

“Nature’s Way” by Spirit [1970]

For one of my classes, I am currently reading the book that is credited with initiating the entire conservation (and later environmental) movements. Man and Nature by George Perkins Marsh, originally published in 1864, made issues of deforestation, desertification, and the loss of species variety explicit topics of debate for the first time. 

Fast-forward a century. Two books published the 1960s, Silent Spring and The Population Bomb, reignited popular fears about the impact of humans on their planet. Moreover, by the end of the decade images of Earth beamed back from the Apollo missions began to put humans and human history into finite perspective. 

Spirit’s song “Nature’s Way,” from their 1970 album The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus,  expresses the feel of the era.

“If I Were a Carpenter” by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash [1970]

Loving Arms: The Golden Age of Country Duets

Tumblr technical difficulties prevented this post yesterday, but here we finally get the pair we expected on “Jackson.”

In 1966 folks singer Tim Hardin wrote “If I Were a Carpenter” (with proper use of the subjunctive, I might add) from a single male-only perspective. Although the questioning nature of the song seemingly lent itself to a duet form, most early performances were by men. Before Hardin even released his own version, rock/pop/folk chameleon Bobby Darin took the song to the Top Ten, while The Four Tops made it a hit in late-‘67 (UK)/mid-‘68 (US). Finally, in 1970, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash spun the song as a countrified question-answer duet. 

It really is difficult to declare one recording of “If I Were a Carpenter” definitive. Your thoughts on the best version?

“Se a Cabo” by Santana [1970]

Latin jazz had been a small but strong style of jazz back into the early 1940s. Mario Bauzá, a Cuban who had previously played in the orchestras of Chick Webb and Cab Calloway, made Machito and His Afro-Cubans stars, “discovered” Puerto Rican timbales player Tito Puente in New York, and introduced Dizzy Gillespie to Cuban conguero Chano Pozo. (Follow the hyperlinks for examples of each.) 

Carlos Santana worked within that legacy, but he did so in 1967 San Francisco. Instead of trumpets and saxophones taking the lead over traditional Latin percussion, Santana used electric guitar and Hammond B3 organ. After live success at Woodstock in 1969, Santana (the band) released Abraxas, their second and most popular LP. In line with the wild experimentation of the times, the album featured Fleetwood Mac’s bluesy “Black Magic Woman” right next to the Tito Puente Latin jazz of “Oye Como Va” and Santana’s own guitar ballad “Samba Pa Ti.” Written by Santana percussionist José “Chepito” Areas, “Se a Cabo” was a short Latin percussion showcase.

While often considered mostly in the rock idiom, early Santana was jazz fusion at its best.

“Classical Gas” by Mason Williams [1970]

Early in 1968 Mason Williams debuted “Classical Gas” on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The popularity of the song has overshadowed the rest of Williams accomplishments ever since. Many people don’t realize that in addition to composing the theme music, Williams was the lead writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. In fact, not only did he win two Grammys for “Classical Gas” in ‘68, he also won an Emmy for his comedy writing. What have you done lately?

The original hit recording, including full orchestra and horns, is the one that gets overplayed on oldies radio stations and the one most people are familiar with. Two years later Williams re-recorded “Classical Gas” as a solo guitar piece. He released that version, heard above, on his 1970 album Hand Made. It’s a great song, either way. 

“Country Girl” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young [1970]

Random Music History Song of the Day

After a very long weekend at a wedding, graduation party, and working on my second job, I’m back! Today’s song is an oddly beautiful Neil Young song from CSNY’s 1970 album Déjà Vu. “Country Girl” was a three-part suite built partly on recycled melodies from Young’s earlier work with Buffalo Springfield. The difference here came in the group’s dense four-part harmonies, which perfectly suited the song’s pessimistic mood. Placed near the end of the album, “Country Girl” brought the hippie party to an end.

“Tango Whiskeyman” by Can [1970]

Random Music History Song of the Day (catch-up edition)

In early 1970 Malcolm Mooney, lead singer in the German experimental band Can, returned to his native United States of America for psychiatric reasons. Now lacking a lead vocalist, the rest of the musicians did what any sensible band would do: choose a random itinerant Japanese street poet found performing outside a cafe in Munich. The first recordings the band made with new singer Kenji “Damo” Suzuki were for a number of film soundtracks. One example, “Tango Whiskeyman,” was written as the character theme song for a protagonist (The Kid) in the German spaghetti Western Deadlock. Within the year Can released a compilation album of music from those films, creatively titled Soundtracks. That album became arguably more famous in the long run than any of the films in which Can’s music appeared.

“Mule Skinner Blues” by Dolly Parton [1970]

Random Music History Song of the Day

Until 1970, Dolly Parton’s career in country music looked to be average at best. She had songwriting talent from the beginning, but despite the popularity of her duets with Porter Wagoner (five had reached the US Country Top 10 from 1967 to ‘69), Parton’s solo releases barely dented the chart. In fact, after her first few moderate hits in 1967, successive releases charted successively worse through the end of the decade. That is, until she released a cover version of the Jimmie Rodgers country standard “Mule Skinner Blues” in 1970.

Rodgers wrote the song as one of his “Blue Yodels” - No. 8 to be exact - and first recorded it in 1930. Dolly Parton’s version forty years later peaked at #3 on the US Country chart. The song carried RCA Record’s release of her first “best of” compilation, released the same year, and set Parton up for the success that followed with “Joshua” (the song and the album). Also helping Parton get noticed: 40 double-Ds.

“Bell Bottom Blues” by Derek & the Dominos [1970]

Random Music History Song of the Day

Many fans would die for even a few years of Pattie Boyd’s life. Not only did she marry one of The Beatles (George Harrison), but when that relationship ended in 1973 her suiters still included Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones and guitar legend Eric Clapton, whom she married in 1979. (As a side note, my post two days ago was “The Butterfly Collector” by The Jam… It’s not a stretch to think that Pattie Boyd may have been a butterfly collector, notching her belt with the souls of famous men.)

In 1970 Boyd and Harrison’s marriage survived the breakup of The Beatles and by 1970 Clapton and Harrison were good friends. Despite both of those facts, Clapton had no qualms writing and recording some of his best music that year with her as his stated muse. Both “Layla” and “Bell Bottom Blues” were written about Pattie Boyd.

Clapton formed Derek & the Dominos as a straight-ahead blues-rock band, but their only album, 1970’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is often remembered more for the inclusion of guest musician Duane Allman on many of its tracks. “Bell Bottom Blues” is the best of the few songs on the album not to feature Allman. Because of its matching theme and its overall quality “Bell Bottom Blues” was included the b-side of the eventual smash hit “Layla” in 1970 (a hit in ‘72) and was released as an a-side on its own right in 1971.

“Tommy Can You Hear Me?” (live) by The Who [1970]

Random Music History Song of the Day

A short song today. “Tommy Can You Hear Me” was originally a brief song near the climax of The Who’s first rock opera Tommy from 1969. The lyrics act out a dramatic scene in which the character Tommy remains locked in a trance looking at himself in a mirror while his parents and the doctor again attempt to make a connection with him.

The version posted here comes from the famed performance that produced the band’s 1970 album Live at Leeds. While not included on the original LP release, The Who actually performed a nearly complete rendition of Tommy between other songs on the set list at Leeds. The live Tommy tracks were included as a second disc on the 2001 Deluxe Edition of the album (which is where I got this one…), although the original performance order of the other tracks was ignored in doing so.