Faces - Snakes And Ladders. The Best Of (1976) + Bonus B-Side Single

 (U.K 1970 - 1975)

The Faces were an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of Small Faces after lead singer/guitarist Steve Marriott left that group to form Humble Pie. The remaining Small Faces: Ian McLagan (keyboards), Ronnie Lane (bass guitar, vocals), and Kenney Jones (drums and percussion), were joined by Ronnie Wood (guitar) and Rod Stewart (lead vocals), both from the Jeff Beck Group, and the new line-up was renamed Faces.

The Faces were a rough, sloppy rock & roll band, able to pound out a rocker like "Had Me a Real Good Time," a blues ballad like "Tell Everyone," or a folk number like "Richmond" all in one album.

Good-time Blues Rock was one of the offshoots of British music at the end of the 60's, and the Faces were at the forefront of the movement. Bass player and songwriter Ronnie Lane was the heart and soul of the band. During the early 1970s the raucous Faces were among Britain’s most popular live performers, and their album 'A Nod’s as Good as a Wink…to a Blind Horse' (1971) remains highly regarded. Nonetheless, Stewart, determined not to be constrained by the group format, pursued a parallel solo career during his tenure with the Faces (1969–75).

For four years they toured the world, playing enormous venues as ‘stadium rock’ took off and selling truck-loads of records and hit songs written by Ronnie and Rod, like ‘Stay With Me’ and ‘Pool Hall Richard’. Ronnie shared primary songwriting duties with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, composing, or co-composing many of their best-loved pieces and took a central role during the recording of their fourth and final album, Ooh La La, right as the band’s front man Rod Stewart was focused on his own solo career.

In 1973, unhappy due to poor reviews of the album and Stewart’s lack of commitment, Lane quit, making his last appearance June 4 at the Sundown Theatre in Edmonton, London. When Ronnie left Faces soon split. Ron Wood joined the Rolling Stones with Rod Stewart going on to become a pop star as a solo artist.

Ian McLagan went on to a successful solo career with The Bump Band and released the album "Spiritual Boy", dedicated to Ronnie Lane. As Rod Stewart’s solo career became more successful than that of the group, the band became overshadowed by their lead singer. Ronnie Lane left the band in 1973 and was taken over by Tetsu Yamauchi. Ronnie went on to join Paul McCartney and his Wings, and featured on McCartney's classic 'Band On The Run' album.

Tetsu Yamauchi joined the band to replace Ronnie, but the group made no further studio albums following Lane’s departure and the group split in 1975. The Faces final studio album with Lane was '9Ooh La La', released just months before he left the band. The following year a live album was released, entitled Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners.

The Faces released four studio albums and toured regularly until the autumn of 1975, although Stewart simultaneously pursued a solo recording career, and during the band's final year Wood also toured with The Rolling Stones, whom he later joined. The Faces and Small Faces were jointly inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Album Review
'Snakes and Ladders' (The Best of Faces) was an October 1976 release by the Faces, an attempt to collect all of the popular songs from the group that had disbanded the previous year. Featuring photography by Tom Wright and cover art by guitarist Ronnie Wood, it was superseded by the far superior Good Boys... When They're Asleep in 1999.

The selections are biased in favour of Rod Stewart's lead vocals, with only one track featuring Ronnie Wood on vocals, and none featuring Ronnie Lane, the group's secondary vocalist, who sang on several tracks on each of the group's four studio albums.

Snakes & Ladders is a fine 12-song overview of the Faces, containing some of the group's best songs ("Had Me a Real Good Time," "Stay With Me," "Miss Judy's Farm," "Sweet Lady Mary," "Ooh La La," "Cindy Incidentally"), along with a couple of mediocre cuts ("Pineapple and the Monkey," "Flying") and the unremarkable, single-only "Pool Hall Richard." Though it gives a sense of what made the Faces a great rock & roll band, it falls far short of being a definitive retrospective or introduction.

Ronnie Quits The Faces 

Perhaps due to the number of marital breakdowns and other romantic fall-outs within The Faces’ inner circle, Andy Neill was able to interview a bevy of ex-wags who weren’t coy about the way The Faces went about their business. He also spoke a several members of their predominantly American road crew.
It is April 1973 and all is not well in the Faces camp. Rod doesn’t like the new album and isn’t afraid to say so, and Ronnie is on the verge of quitting.

Ooh La La was launched with a pre-release playback party at the Warner Bros. offices and a more upmarket gathering at Tramp, on Jermyn Street, the London nightclub of choice for the well-heeled, A-list rock stars and footballers on the razz. The band had graduated to the Mayfair set from the less refined Speakeasy and it was now their playground of choice, along with the likes of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ringo Starr and Keith Moon. Surrounded by tarted up Can Can girls flashing their frilly knickers, the band posed for the press with glasses in hand, a dishevelled Ronnie Lane looking particularly worse for wear.

Before leaving for America, the band fitted in four British dates around towns and cities left off the previous tour. These included Sunderland on Friday, April 13. It was a week since the FA Cup semi-finals where Sunderland beat Arsenal 2-1 to progress to the final against Leeds. John Peel, a staunch Liverpool and Faces supporter, cherished the memory of that night as one of his favourite ever gigs when both band and audience bonded in one unholy communion. “I’m supposed to have danced in the wings with a bottle of Blue Nun in my arm,” Peel later recalled. “And I’m a person who never dances. Never, never, never.”

Ronnie Lane

The day after the show at Worcester Gaumont, Roy Hollingworth interviewed Rod at his home in Windsor and found him in a bored, surly frame of mind. When the journalist gave his favourable verdict on Ooh La La, Stewart registered surprise. “It was a bloody mess… But I shouldn’t say that should I? … It was a disgrace but I’m not going to say anything more about it.” Hollingworth tried diverting the conversation to a lighter bent but Rod was on a roll – he hit out at The Faces sticking to the same material, their problems in playing the new songs live and the wasteful work pattern in the studio. Stewart later claimed he’d been misquoted but the damage had been done.

When the interview, carrying a banner headline ‘Rod: Our new album is a disgrace… a bloody mess’, was printed prominently on page three in the Melody Maker dated April 21, all hell broke loose. “It was very mean spirited of Rod to slam Ooh La La in the press immediately after it came out,” says McLagan. “He was making his own albums, fair enough but he didn’t have to slag ours off and he had no right to because it wasn’t a bad album… The irony is he could have contributed more to it but he didn’t so he had even less of a reason to criticise.”

L to R: Ronnie Wood, Ronnie Lane & Rod Stewart

Amid ill feeling emanating from Rod’s outburst the Faces ninth US tour started just days later with Jo Jo Gunne supporting. From the beginning it was, to borrow a familiar phrase, never a dull moment especially as Lane deliberately disobeyed the band’s unwritten ‘no wives on the road’ edict.

[Roadie] Russ Schlagbaum: “The other guys were really pissed off, they felt that Kate [Lane] was putting all this shit in Ronnie’s head. I got the shock of my life because my girlfriend Barbara Morice, who was Ronnie’s secretary, came over with Kate. In Columbus, Ohio, there were a load of girls that I knew from college around, I was working for one of the world’s biggest rock’n’roll bands and I’m all set up. I walk into the lobby of the Holiday Inn and there stands my English girlfriend who I thought I’d left behind in Richmond. It was like ‘Holy fuck, what do I now?’ I thought it was very odd that Ronnie would bring someone over to play au pair but then leave the child with a hotel caretaker or some sort so that Kate and Barbara could go to the gig. They all travelled round in this great big Ford station wagon and I have to give Laney credit because he busted his ass to drive those distances from gig to gig with these women and a kid until the end of the tour in Indianapolis.”

Watch out for that Tambourine !

On May 10, the intractable situation came to a head at Nassau Coliseum, Long Island as Schlagbaum recounts: “It started at the hotel earlier in the day. [Roadie] Charlie Fernandez came in, saying ‘Whoa, something really weird is brewing’. The band got to the gig, had an argument in the dressing room before they went on and while they were walking on stage. I’m standing there, holding Ronnie Lane’s bass. He walks right by me and goes over to Mac and throws a glass of wine in his face, walks back and while I’m putting the bass on Ronnie, Mac picks up a tambourine and throws it as hard as he can. Ronnie ducks and it just misses him. The audience had no idea, they’re thinking it’s all part of the act. The band carried on arguing throughout the set and afterwards, they locked themselves in the dressing room for hours. Chuch and I were pissed off because we wanted to get back to the hotel for the party and the women but the keys to the truck were in the dressing room so we couldn’t leave. We said ‘Can’t we get in?’ and [Faces tour manager] John Barnes said, ‘Absolutely nobody can come in’. They had this huge row and that’s when Ronnie decided he was leaving the band.

The Faces On Tour Bus

“The next gig was in Roanoke, Virginia and nobody was speaking to Ronnie except Woody who was his usual bubbly self, you know, ‘Let’s put all the bad stuff behind us and have some fun.’ Woody was always desperate that everyone should have a good time. Laney always used to wander round in circles onstage so that his guitar cord would end up in a huge knot, which was always a problem for me but that night he just stood still back by his amps and played bass.”

Mac, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, remembers Lane coming up to his face during the gig and swearing at him whereupon an enraged McLagan kicked him up the arse and chased him off the stage. Alongside “Fuck the gig!” and the even more endearing “Bollocks, you cunt!” “I’m leaving the group” was a common Faces catchphrase – a mock cry wolf uttered whenever there was any minor hassle or pressure to deal with, usually with drink in hand and tongue firmly in cheek. But now Ronnie Lane was implacable as Mac recalled, “When he said ‘I’m leaving the group’, I said, ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, Ronnie.’ He said, ‘Why don’t you come with me and we’ll get another band together?’ I said, ‘I’m in the band I want to be in with you. I don’t want you to leave.’”

An uncorroborated story has it that after a gig on the tour, the resentment directed at Stewart from Lane descended to a confrontation where Rod, all satin and white gloves, sized up the bass player in his rag and bone man clobber and remarked, “What are you trying to be – a spiv or a Ted?” to which Lane retorted, “Well I’d rather look like a fucking Teddy Boy than an old tart who’s going through the change.” Lane later acidly remarked he knew it was time to move on when Rod “started buying his clothes from Miss Selfridge.”

Ronnie Wood and Rod Stewart

For Lane it must have seemed a bitter irony – feeling he had no alternative but to leave the band he’d formed – ten years on from finding Kenney Jones in the British Prince. And his chief grievance being the vocalist he had objected to joining in the first place. It is unfair to lay all the blame at Rod’s feet for being the catalyst behind Lane’s decision, and it should be reiterated that Stewart did not want Lane to leave the Faces either. Onstage they were something of a double act – Ronnie doing his best to make ‘the LV’ (lead vocalist as Rod was sardonically referred to) crack up while Rod would piggyback Ronnie around the stage or help keep him vertical. Most crucially Lane’s levelling humour kept Rod’s excesses in check. During the fraught vocal overdubs for Ooh La La, Rod made it known to Circus reporter Barra Greyson that, in his opinion, “Ronnie’s the real songwriter.”

Going further back to the Never A Dull Moment sessions, Rod had expressed concern for his comrade, telling Nick Logan, “I saw Ronnie Lane the other day and he was looking a bit bleary eyed. I must ring him up and persuade him to take an early night.” Although in the same interview, he did admit having problems interpreting Lane’s compositions. “Ron [Wood] and I have this incredible thing between us. We could both be on opposite sides of the world and Ron could phone and play me a tune, and I could put the lyrics to it. Whereas I don’t have that same thing with Ronnie Lane because of the chords and the structures he uses. I can’t get into them.”

“They always took the mickey out of Ronnie’s songs,” says Jan Jones. “Kenney used to laugh about it. He’d come in from Olympic and I’d say, ‘How did it go?’ and he’d say, ‘We’ve got the statutory Ronnie Lane song, ‘rinky-dinky-dink…’’’ Musically Ronnie and Rod were like chalk and cheese but I loved the blend of Ronnie Lane and Rod’s voice.”
The Faces were predominantly a band built for the stage but, as Mac points out, “apart from singing the opening verse of ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’, Ronnie didn’t really get to do anything with the band so it was no wonder he felt frustrated.”

Rod and Ronnie

Russ Schlagbaum: “Everyone thought Laney was insane. ‘Why the fuck would he leave the Faces right at their peak? He’s got to be out of his mind. It must be the woman he’s with’. Of course, Kate had a lot to do with it but Ronnie was on the alert from the very beginning. Ronnie saw through the Rod thing and he told Mac and Kenney, ‘Rod’s gonna leave you in the shit like Steve [Marriott] did’, but they wouldn’t have it. They didn’t want to get off the golden cart at that point.”

Ronnie’s brother Stan takes a similar view. “I used to say to Ronnie, ‘You only jump off the boat if it’s sinking.’ And for the first time in his life he was making plenty of money. But I think that Kate was a bad influence at that time because she wanted to be a hippie and live on a farm and all that shit. I think she was the force that dragged Ronnie away from the Faces plus he was pissed off with Rod so I think between the two of them it turned him.”

The Faces Play Their Last Concert

‘Faces Go To Town’ ran the front page of the May 19 edition of Sounds announcing that the band were to play three major London concerts at the Edmonton Sundown on June 1, 3 and 4 as a prelude to a full scale European tour with dates to be recorded for a proposed live album. But of far more drama and consequence was the paper’s announcement a week later: ‘Plonk Quits Faces’. “Following speculation about the future of the Faces, Ronnie Lane announced this week his decision to leave. Prior to leaving for a holiday in France, he said ‘It’s time for me to move on. I feel the need for a change.’”

The resultant hoopla surrounding the gigs involved fans queuing for over seven hours for tickets with the 3,500 capacity audiences being jammed against the barriers and the inevitable cases of fainting. Such was the fervor that a fourth and final show on June 6 was added. Ironically the Edmonton shows were some of the best the Faces played. “Ronnie was feeling good, his anger had passed,” says Russ. “It was accepted - he was leaving, there was no changing his mind and that was it. There wasn’t a lot of tension – or there appeared not to be.”

“All I mainly recall of Edmonton is the bar onstage,” support act Andy Brown says. “I couldn’t believe Rod had his wine frozen at the correct room temperature in an ice bucket. I thought what a spoilt bastard but nowadays that’s nothing.”

Aware of the sense of occasion, Gaff Management hired Mike Mansfield Television to videotape the final night. After a long wait in which an announcement was made that the Faces had been stopped by police on the way to the gig, a line of Can Can girls came on for a vibrant display before the Faces finally took their places on the wide, palm-treed stage with white rubber flooring – Rod in sparkling vest and long tartan scarf with a green feather boa tied around his waist, the two Ronnie’s fags clamped in mouths and Mac with candle atop the Steinway to add atmosphere as well as being handy for lighting ciggies. Kenney sat behind his new Ludwig ‘liquorice allsorts’ kit. If it weren’t for the presence of ‘Farewell Ronnie’ signs scattered among the ubiquitous tartan scarves in the audience, it was difficult to determine this was Lane’s last gig – as if the subject was verboten. The encore of ‘Memphis’ over, Lane joined the others to take his final bow, joining in on the traditional ‘We’ll Meet Again’ sing-along as the five Faces left the stage together.

“That last night at Edmonton was absolutely fucking fantastic,” says Stan Lane. “I was up in the balcony and it was moving. I was shitting meself because I thought it was all going to collapse. Ronnie left there that night and he came with me in the motor and we went to Tramp. He sees Marc Bolan, goes up to him and says, ‘You haven’t got a job for an out of work bass player, have ya?’”

[Extract from 'Had Me A Real Good Time', Andy Neill’s Faces biography]

This post consists of FLACs freshly ripped from my UK vinyl pressing (I must have bought this at an Import Shop back in the 70's) and includes full album artwork for both vinyl and CD formats. I do however remember buying this compilation after having acquired their 'A Nod Is As Good As A Wink ....' LP, which I absolutely loved.  

As a bonus, I am also including the B-Side to my "Pool Hall Richard" 45 (see left), a live recording of "I Wish It Would Rain" from their performance at the 1973 Reading Festival. 

Track Listing

01. Pool Hall Richard

02. Cindy Incidentally

03. Ooh La La

04. Sweet Lady Mary

05. Flying

06. Pineapple and The Monkey

07. You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything

08. Had Me A Real Good Time

09. Stay With me

10. Miss Judy's Farm

11. Silicone Grown

12. Around the Plynth

13. I Wish It Would Rain (Bonus Live B-Side Single)

Rod Stewart – lead vocals, Banjo

Ronnie Wood - Guitars

Ronnie Lane – bass, Guitar

Ian McLagan - Keyboards

Kenney Jones – drums, percussion

Bobby Keys - tenor saxophone on "Had Me a Real Good Time"

Harry Beckett - trumpet on "Had Me a Real Good Time"

Snakes And Ladders Link (286Mb)

Double Post: Various Artists - Immortal Rock (1977) & Immortal Rock Vol.2 (1979)

 (Compilation - 60's / 70's)

Various Artists - Immortal Rock (1977)

The late 60's and early 70's was an era when rock came of age. This album features a collection of all time rock classics emphasising the strong influence of British and European musicians.

From Hendrix to Status Quo...the Who's Who of Rock's golden era are featured on this highly sort after compilation.
I have always considered this compilation (and it's follow up Vol.2 release) to be the best rock sampler albums to be released on Vinyl, representing the pinnacles of 60 and 70's rock. The only 'legendary' band not represented here are the Beatles, but then how many compilations have you seen with a Beatles track - none? Featured singles are:

 

The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown - Fire

Written by: Arthur Brown/Vincent Crane

Release Date: June, 1968

Highest Chart Position: #1 UK

Album Track: The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown

B-Side Single:  Rest Cure

During live performances and in the black and white promotional television clip, Brown performed the song wearing a burning helmet. The helmet was improvised with a leather skull cap onto which was bolted a metal dish that held lighter fluid or petrol. As the cap was not insulated, the heat from the burning fuel quickly conducted through the fixing bolt to the top of Brown's head, causing him considerable pain. The song is an example of the psychedelic rock of the period, though its lack of guitars or bass guitar distinguished it from many of its contemporaries. The lead instrument in this case was Vincent Crane's Hammond organ, augmented by an orchestral section featuring prominent brass. 

Pinball Wizard - The Who

Written by: Pete Townshend

Release Date: March, 1969

Highest Chart Position: #4 UK

Album Track: Tommy

B-Side Single:  Dogs part Two

In the first week of March 1969, Track released the first sampler from Tommy, a riveting new Townshend song entitled 'Pinball Wizard'. The song had actually been written for Nik Cohn, a journalist who was both a pinball fanatic and a close friend of Pete, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. It was by far The Who's best single release since 'I Can See For Miles' eighteen months earlier. "Pinball Wizard" opened with what is perhaps the best guitar part that Pete Townsend has ever written; following a slow, tension-filled build up through a series of unusual, rather melancholy chords, the rhythmic balance is secured with some furious strumming on acoustic guitar down an eight note sequence, each change enhanced by the deep cannon of John's bass guitar.

If there was any doubt that Pete Townsend is the finest rhythm guitarist in the whole of rock, 'Pinball Wizard' sets the record straight. The B-Side incidentally, was Keith Moon's jokey 'Dogs Part II', a throw away track with composition credited to 'Moon, Towser and Jason'. Towser was Pete's pet spaniel and Jason was John's favourite deerhound.

Thunderclap Newman - Something In The Air

Written by: Speedy Keen

Release Date: May, 1969

Highest Chart Position: #1 UK

Album Track: Hollywood Dream

B-Side Single: Wilhelmina

In 1969, Pete Townshend, The Who's guitarist, was the catalyst behind the formation of the band. The concept was to create a band to perform songs written by drummer and singer Speedy Keen, who had written "Armenia City in the Sky", the first track on The Who Sell Out. Townshend recruited jazz pianist Andy "Thunderclap" Newman (a friend from art college), and 15-year-old Glaswegian guitarist Jimmy McCulloch, who subsequently played lead guitar in Paul McCartney and Wings. Keen played the drums and sang the lead.

Jimi Hendrix – Hey Joe

Written by: Billy Roberts

Release Date: Dec, 1966 in UK

Highest Chart Position: #6 UK

Album Track: Are You Experienced?

B-Side: Stone Free (U.K), 51st Anniversary (US)

The lyrics tell of a man who is on the run and planning to head to Mexico after shooting his unfaithful wife. 

Listed at No. 201 on Rolling Stone magazine's The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2010.

"Hey Joe" was the last song Hendrix performed at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and as such, it was also the final song of the whole festival. The song was performed after the crowd, comprising the 80,000 who had not yet left the festival, cheered for an encore

Derek And The Dominos - Layla

Written by: Eric Clapton/Jim Gordon

Release Date: March, 1971

Highest Chart Position: #7 UK

Album Track: Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs

B-Side Single: Bell Bottom Blues

Clapton originally wrote "Layla" as a ballad, with lyrics describing his unrequited love for Boyd, but the song became a "rocker" when, according to Clapton, Allman composed the song's signature riff. The song's length (7:04) proved prohibitive for radio airplay. As a result, a shortened version of the song, consisting of the first 2:43 of Part I, was released as a single in March 1971 by Atco Records in the United States. This version peaked at number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Rod Stewart - Maggie May

Written by: Rod Stewart/Mark Quittenton

Release Date: July, 1971

Highest Chart Position: #1 UK/US

Album Track: Every Picture Tells A Story

B-Side Single: Reason To Believe

Maggie May expresses the ambivalence and contradictory emotions of a boy involved in a relationship with an older woman and was written from Stewart's own experience. The song was released as the B-side of the single "Reason to Believe", but soon radio stations began playing the B-side and "Maggie May" became the more popular side. The song was Stewart's first substantial hit as a solo performer and launched his solo career. 

Eric Burdon And The Animals - Sky Pilot

Written by: Burdon/Briggs/Welder/Jenkins/McCulloch

Release Date: Jan, 1968 

Highest Chart Position: #14 US

Album Track: The Twain Shall Meet

B-Side Single: Sky Pilot Pt. 2

The sprawling single “Sky Pilot,” released at the dawn of that war-torn year, proved to be a game changer, one of rock’s first cinematic songs. At more than seven minutes, the number annexed both sides of the 45 record, its many sonic effects captured in true stereo. Even at that length, Eric Burdon’s song was a hit single, reaching No. 14 in the U.S. and remaining an FM radio staple over the decades. While the song’s subtle anti-war message surely concerned the Vietnam War, its shadowing invoked the two world wars.

The song is a balladic slice of life story about a chaplain who blesses a body of troops just before they set out on an overnight raid or patrol, and then retires to await their return.

Cream - White Room

Written by: Jack Bruce/Pete Brown

Release Date: Sept, 1968

Highest Chart Position: #6 US

Album Track: Wheels Of Fire

B-Side Single: Those Were Thee Days

Cream recorded White Room for the studio half of their 1968 double album Wheels of Fire. In September, a shorter US single edit (without the third verse) was released for AM radio stations, although album-oriented FM radio stations played the full album version. The subsequent UK single release in January 1969 used the full-length album version of the track.

Jack Bruce sang and played bass on the song, Eric Clapton overdubbed guitar parts, Ginger Baker played drums and timpani, and Felix Pappalardi – the group's producer – contributed violas. Clapton played his guitar through a wah-wah pedal to achieve a "talking-effect".

Focus - Hocus Pocus

Written by: Thijs Van Leer/Jan Akkerman

Release Date: July, 1971

Highest Chart Position: #9 US/Dutch

Album Track: Moving Waves

B-Side Single: Janis

An edited version was released as a single (with "Janis" as the B-side) on the Imperial, Polydor and Blue Horizon labels in Europe in 1971, but failed to chart outside of the Netherlands. A faster re-recording of the song (titled "Hocus Pocus 2" or "Hocus Pocus II" in some markets) was released in Europe in 1972. When performing live, Focus would play "Hocus Pocus" even faster. Supposedly the song was a bit of a joke by its authors, but if so, it was a very successful million-selling joke. 

Status Quo - Rain

Written by: Rick Parfitt

Release Date: Feb, 1976

Highest Chart Position: #7 UK

Album Track: Blue For You

B-Side Single: You Lost The Love

"Rain" was intended for Blue for You predecessor On the Level – but, at the time of the recording sessions, Parfitt had not completed the song and so it was held over. It in fact followed guitarist Francis Rossi's new introduction to speed; "That's why songs like 'Rain' were so edgy and fast," he explained.

John Mayall - Moving On

Written by: John Mayall

Release Date: 1973

Highest Chart Position: #116 US

Album Track: Moving On

B-Side Single: Keep Our Country Green

The single was lifted from "Moving On", a live album recorded at the Whiskey AGoGo, Los Angeles on the 10th of July 1972 with the aid of Wally Heider's Mobile Recording Truck. For this album, he reshuffled personnel, choosing Mitchell, Solomon, Larry Taylor, Victor Gaskin, Hartley, Robinson, Watts, flautist Charles Owen and baritone and tenor saxophonist Fred Jackson. The album and single, Moving On, was released in January, 1973.

Golden Earring - Radar Love

Written by: G.Kooyman/H.Hay

Release Date: Aug, 1973

Highest Chart Position: #10 US

Album Track: Moontan

B-Side Single: The Song Is Over

Radar Love is written from the point of view of a truck driver who says he has some sort of psychic connection with his girlfriend — "radar love". He senses that she urgently wants him to be with her, and it makes him reckless. His recklessness causes him to have a fatal accident, but even in the afterlife the song's narrator and his lover still have radar love.

Nazereth - Love Hurts

Written by: Boudleaux Bryant

Release Date: Nov, 1974

Highest Chart Position: #8 US

Album Track: Hair Of The Dog

B-Side Single: Down

Performed as a power ballad, the Nazareth version is the most popular version of the song and the only rendition of "Love Hurts" to become a hit single in the United States, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1976. Jim Capaladi released a 'more up beat' version of Love Hurts in early 1975 and at one stage both versions were on the same charts at the same time - I personally preferred Nazareth's version.  The album version runs 3:52, with a guitar solo by Manny Charlton that is not on the 3:03 single. The lyrics of the song were changed for Nazareth's 1975 recording, where the original line "love is like a stove/it burns you when it's hot" was changed to "love is like a flame/it burns you when it's hot".

Oh, by the way, did you know that Nazareth got their name from the first line of the Band's "The Weight" - "I pulled into Nazareth..."

Eric Clapton - I Shot The Sheriff

Written by: Bob Marley

Release Date: 1974

Highest Chart Position: #1 US

Album Track: 46 Ocean Boulevard

B-Side Single: Give Me Strength

With respect to the song title, Marley has explained his intention as "I wanted to say 'I shot the police' but the government would have made a fuss, so I said 'I shot the sheriff' instead… but it's the same idea: justice. Clapton kept the underlying reggae beat from Marley's original, but made it more of a rock song, with prominent organ and guitar. In America, reggae was big around this time - in 1972, "I Can See Clearly Now" by Johnny Nash became the first song of that genre to hit #1 in the States. For listeners craving just a touch of reggae with their rock, Clapton's "I Shot The Sheriff" hit the sweet spot.

💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿

Various Artists - Immortal Rock Vol.2  (1979)

 In the tradition of the first Immortal Rock album (Polystar 2475 517) this collection features further examples of all time rock classics from the 60's and 70's. 

From Chuck Berry to Roger Daltrey....the Who's Who (no punn intended)  of Rock's Golden era are featured on this 2nd compilation.

Singles featured on this compilation are:

Jimi Hendrix - All Along The Watchtower 

Written by: Bob Dylan

Release Date: Sept, 1968 

Highest Chart Position: #20

Album Track: Electric Ladyland

B-Side Single: Long Hot Summer Night

Hendrix had been working on and off with the members of the band Traffic as he recorded Electric Ladyland. Traffic guitarist Dave Mason caught Hendrix at a party and the two discussed Bob Dylan's newest album, John Wesley Harding, containing "All Along The Watchtower." Hendrix, long fascinated with Dylan, decided to cover the song on the album. On the resulting track, Mason plays rhythm on a 12-string acoustic guitar.

Rare Bird - Sympathy

Written by: Rare Bird

Release Date: Feb 1970

Highest Chart Position: #27 UK

Album Track: Rare Bird

B-Side Single: Devil's High Concern

"Sympathy" is a song by the English progressive rock band Rare Bird. It became the band's only UK chart entry when it peaked at number 27 in the UK Singles Chart in 1970. The song reached No. 1 in Italy and in France, selling 500,000 copies in France and over one million globally.

Hollies - He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

Written by: Bob Russell/Bobby Scott

Release Date: Sept, 1969

Highest Chart Position: #3 UK

Album Track: Non-album Single

B-Side Single: 'Cos You Like to Love Me

The Hollies' recorded the song in June 1969 at the Abbey Road Studios, with Allan Clarke on lead vocals. Elton John, who was still called 'Reg' at the time and was working as a session musician at the time, played piano on the song. He got paid 12 pounds for his trouble. 

In the Guardian newspaper of February 24, 2006, Hollies guitarist Tony Hicks said: "In the 1960s when we were short of songs I used to hang around publishers in Denmark Street. One afternoon, I'd been there ages and wanted to get going but this bloke said: 'Well there's one more song. It's probably not for you.' He played me the demo by the writers [Bobby Scott and Bob Russell]. It sounded like a 45rpm record played at 33rpm, the singer was slurring, like he was drunk. But it had something about it. There were frowns when I took it to the band but we speeded it up and added an orchestra. The only things left recognizable were the lyrics.

Rod Stewart - Mandolin Wind

Written by: Rod Stewart

Release Date: June, 1971

Highest Chart Position: #66 Aust 

Album Track: Every Picture Tell's A Story

B-Side Single: (I Know) I'm Losing You

"Mandolin Wind" was first released on Stewart's 1971 album Every Picture Tells a Story and later as the b-side of a single from that album, his version of "(I Know) I'm Losing You.

"Mandolin Wind" has been highly praised by music critics. In his review of Every Picture Tells a Story in Rolling Stone, John Mendelsohn refers to the song as being "nearly as good" as the #1 single off the album, "Maggie May."

The identity of the mandolin player on "Mandolin Wind" is unclear. The liner notes state that "the mandolin was played by the mandolin player in Lindisfarne" but that Rod Stewart had forgotten his name. In 2003, Ray Jackson claimed to be the mandolin player on the album, at least for the song "Maggie May." Jackson is the mandolin player from English folk-rock band Lindisfarne.

Allman Brothers - Ramblin' Man

Written by: Dickey Betts

Release Date: Aug, 1973 in US

Highest Chart Position: #2 US

Album Track: Brothers and Sisters

B-Side: Pony Boy

It was one of the first songs, alongside "Wasted Words", recorded for Brothers and Sisters (1973). They went to the studio to record a demo of the song to send to a friend, which is where the long guitar jam near the finale of the song was created. It is considerably more inspired by country music than other Allman Brothers Band compositions, which made the group reluctant to record it initially.

James Brown - It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World

Written by: James Brown/Betty Jean Newsome

Release Date: April, 1966

Highest Chart Position: #1 US

Album Track: It's A Man's Man's Man's World

B-Side Single: Is It Yes or Is It No?

The song's title is a word play on the 1963 comedy film It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Brown's co-writer and onetime girlfriend, Betty Jean Newsome, wrote the lyrics based on her own observations of the relations between the sexes. Newsome claimed in later years that Brown did not write any part of the song, and she argued in court that he sometimes forgot to pay her royalties. Australian musician Renée Geyer recorded a version in 1974. The song was released in November 1974 as the second single from her second studio album, It's a Man's Man's World. The song peaked at number 44 on the Australian Kent Music Report, becoming her first Australian top 50 single.

Roger Daltrey - Walking The Dog

Written by: Rufus Thomas

Release Date: June, 1975

Highest Chart Position: #52 UK

Album Track: Ride A Rock Horse

B-Side Single: Proud

Walking The Dog was recorded during Daltrey's filming commitments for Ken Russell's film Lisztomania. Daltrey’s version of the regularly rendered song basically sticks to the original blueprint, with the exception of a rather hauntingly repetitious tone slipped into the stew. It is quite baffling that the album from which this single was taken from, Ride a Rock Horse drew mixed responses when initially released. No doubt expectations simply ran too high for the Who celeberity, as this is certainly a potent piece of work. Daltrey’s amazing vocals, combined with sympathetic and inspired instrumentation anchor each number. Had Daltrey been an unknown entity and Ride a Rock Horse marked his maiden vinyl voyage, critics would have probably penned rapturous reviews. Those who wrote this album off the first time around should seriously give it another listen, while those just being introduced to Ride a Rock Horse will be suitably impressed.

Bachman Turner Overdrive - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Written by: Randy Bachman

Release Date: Sept, 1974

Highest Chart Position: #1 US

Album Track: Not Fragile

B-Side Single: Free Wheelin'

The chorus of the song includes the song's famous stutter, and speaks of a devil woman looking at a man with big brown eyes and saying, "You ain't seen nothin' yet. B-b-b-baby, you just ain't seen na-na-nothin' yet. Here's somethin' that you're never gonna forget. B-b-b-baby, you just ain't seen na-na-nothin' yet.

Randy Bachman insists that the song was performed as a joke for his brother, Gary, who had a stutter, with no intention of sounding like the Who's "My Generation" which featured a stuttered lyric.  They only intended to record it once with the stutter and send the only recording to Gary.

Cream - Sunshine Of Your Love

Written by: Jack Bruce/Pete Brown/Eric Clapton

Release Date: Dec, 1967

Highest Chart Position: 

Album Track: Disraeli Gears

B-Side Single: SWLABR

With elements of hard rock, psychedelia, and pop, this song is one of Cream's best known and most popular songs. Cream bassist and vocalist Jack Bruce based it on a distinctive bass riff he developed after attending a Jimi Hendrix concert. Guitarist Eric Clapton and lyricist Pete Brown later contributed to the song and drummer Ginger Baker plays a distinctive tom-tom drum rhythm.

Jon English - Turn The Page

Written by: Bob Seger

Release Date: 1974

Highest Chart Position: #20 Aust

Album Track: It's All A Game

B-Side Single: Just the Way I Am

Turn The page is about life on the road, and the rigors musicians face when they're touring. It presents the other side of fame which the public doesn't see - the loneliness and aggravation.

Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City

Written by: John & Mark Sebastian

Release Date: July, 1966

Highest Chart Position: #1 US

Album Track: Hums of the Lovin' Spoonful

B-Side Single: Butchie's Tune

The Lovin' Spoonful recorded "Summer in the City" in two sessions at Columbia Studios in New York in March 1966. The recording is an early instance in pop music of added sound effects, made up of car horns and a pneumatic drill to mimic city noises. The effects were among the first on a pop song to employ an overlapping crossfade, an effect that had typically only been used on comedy albums. 

Eric Burdon & The Animals - Monterey

Written by: Burdon/Briggs/Welder/Jenkins/McCulloch

Release Date: Dec, 1967

Highest Chart Position: #15 US

Album Track: The Twain Shall Meet

B-Side Single: Ain't That So

The song provides an oral account of the June 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, at which the Animals performed. Burdon namedrops several of the acts who performed at the festival such as The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead, and Jimi Hendrix. Chart wise, the song reached number 9 in Australia and number 20 in New Zealand. It did not appear as a hit in the UK, where the image of the Monterey festival was not as strong.

Chuck Berry - No Particular Place To Go

Written by: Chuck Berry

Release Date: May, 1964

Highest Chart Position: #3 UK

Album Track: St. Louis To Liverpool

B-Side Single: You Two

The song is a comical four verse story. In the first verse, the narrator is riding in his car as his girlfriend drives, and they kiss. In the second, they start to cuddle, and drive slow. In the third, they decide to park and take a walk, but are unable to release the seat belt. In the last verse, they drive home, defeated by said recalcitrant seat belt.

Slade - Get Down & Get With It

Written by: Bobby Marchan

Release Date: May, 1971

Highest Chart Position:  #16 UK

Album Track: Sladest

B-Side Single: Gospel According To Rasputin

Prior to recording the song in the studio, the band had established "Get Down and Get with It" as a popular number in their live-set, based on Little Richard's version. 

Impressed by the general audience reception of the song, Chandler suggested recording the song as a single. The band entered Olympic Studios in Barnes to record it and Chandler told the band: "Just play it like you do on-stage. Blast it out like it's live, and pretend that there's an audience in there with you." Successfully recorded in a single take, the band included foot-stomping and hand-clapping in the recording to give the song a live feel.

💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿💿

This post consists of FLACs ripped from my Vinyl copies of these two compilation albums. Quality of these records is excellent although some base enhancements have been made to some tracks.

Full album artwork and label scans are included for vinyl - as far as I can tell, neither of these compilations have been released on CD.

Tracklist - Immortal Rock (1977)

A1   The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown  – Fire

A2   The Who  –  Pinball Wizard

A3   Thunderclap Newman  –  Something In The Air

A4   Jimi Hendrix  –  Hey Joe

A5   Derek And The Dominos  –  Layla

A6   Rod Stewart  –  Maggie May

A7   Eric Burdon And The Animals  –  Sky Pilot

B1   Cream –  White Room

B2   Focus –  Hocus Pocus

B3   Status Quo  –  Rain

B4   John Mayall  –  Moving On

B5   Golden Earring  –  Radar Love

B6   Nazareth – Love Hurts

B7   Eric Clapton  –  I Shot The Sheriff

Immortal Rock Link (327Mb) New Link 18/10/2023

Tracklist - Immortal Rock Vol.2 (1979)

A1 Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower

A2 Rare Bird –   Sympathy

A3 The Hollies – He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother

A4 Rod Stewart – Mandolin Wind

A5 The Allman Brothers Band –   Ramblin' Man

A6 James Brown – It's A Man's Man's Man's World

A7 Roger Daltrey – Walking The Dog

B1 Bachman-Turner Overdrive –   You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

B2 Cream – Sunshine Of Your Love

B3 Jon English – Turn The Page

B4 The Lovin' Spoonful – Summer In The City

B5 Eric Burdon & The Animals –  Monterey

B6 Chuck Berry – No Particular Place To Go

B7 Slade – Get Down & Get With It

Immortal Rock Vol.2 Link (307Mb) New Link 18/10/2023

Various Artists - Rock Anthems

 (Various Artists 60-70's)

Concept was a marketing company in the vein of K-Tel. J & B was a sister company. They were based at 37 Whiting Street Artamon Sydney and later 139 Murray Street, Pyrmont. Other than that there is little information. The label was started by Theo Tambakis. He had worked at K-Tel, where he produced Hooked on Swing.

Concept was a highly prolific producer of compilations, and lasted into the CD era. The first release was in 1984 – Breakin’ It Up CC0001, and the final seems to be after CC0200D – Unforgettable Songs, in 1992. The albums were heavily promoted on radio and television.

A majority of their compilations didn't display release dates on their covers and this compilation is one of them. However, of those that have dates (see Discogs listing) a majority were released during 1987-1989, and so my guess is that this compilation was released sometime during this period

This compilation features tracks from both the 60's and 70's and in my opinion packed with 20 fantastic rock classics. But are they all Rock Anthems? Well, I'll let you be the judge.

Meatloaf - "Bat Out Of Hell" (1977)
Surging, soaring but melodic "Bat Out Of Hell" single and album (of same name) shook up the punk/new wave music scene of the late 1970's/early 80's, forcefully reminding it of hard rock's presence., but also crossing-over into 'theatrical' pop appreciation. Its perpetrator, Meat Loaf (born Marvin Lee Aday in Texas in 1948), adopted a tumultuous theatricality, which should have surprised nobody since he had already starred in the movie "Rocky Horror Picture Show". Like all of Meat Loaf's hits, Bat Out Of Hell was written by pianist Jim Steinman. He said he wrote this to be the ultimate "Motorcycle crash song." The lyrics refer to a rider being thrown off his bike in a wreck and his organs exposed. The Bat Out of Hell album spent 474 weeks on the UK album chart and became one of the top five all time best selling albums.

Elton John - "Crocodile Rock" (1972)
"Crocodile Rock" was written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, and recorded in summer 1972 at the Château d'Hérouville studio in France (it was listed as "Strawberry Studios" in the album's credits), where John and his team had previously recorded the Honky Château album. It was released on 27 October 1972 in the UK and 20 November 1972 in the U.S., as a pre-release single from his forthcoming 1973 album 'Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player', and became his first U.S. number-one single, reaching the top spot on 3 February 1973, and stayed there for three weeks. In the U.S., it was certified Gold on 5 February 1973 and Platinum on 13 September 1995 by the RIAA.

The song was inspired by Elton's discovery of leading Australian band Daddy Cool and their hit single "Eagle Rock", which was the most successful Australian single of the early 1970s, remaining at No.1 for a record of 10 weeks.

Elton heard the song and the group on his 1972 Australian tour and was greatly impressed by it. A photo included in the album packaging features John's lyricist, Bernie Taupin, wearing a "Daddy Who?" promotional badge.(see right)

The Spencer Davis Group - "Gimme Some Lovin'" (1966)
The Spencer Davis group was signed by Chris Blackwell, who released their first single, a cover of the John Lee Hooker song "Dimples," in 1964. He had the group record songs written by the Jamaican composer Jackie Edwards, two of which were #1 UK hits in 1965: "Keep on Running" and "Somebody Help Me." When Blackwell set his sights on the American market for the group, he had them record with producer Jimmy Miller and asked them to write an original song that would go over well in the US. "Gimme Some Lovin'" was the result; Miller made the US release more appealing to American taste by adding percussion and a female chorus. The song served its purpose, becoming the first American hit for The Spencer Davis Group.

Gimme Some Lovin' was written by the group's lead singer, Steve Winwood (Spencer Davis was their guitarist - he was chosen as the group's namesake because he was the only one who enjoyed doing interviews). Winwood says they banged it out in the studio in the first or second take. The song was also written on the fly. In Rolling Stone magazine, bassist Muff Winwood said, "Steve had been singing, 'Gimme some lovin',' just yelling anything. It took about an hour to write, then down the pub for lunch."

Dave Edmonds - "I Hear You Knockin" (1970)
Dave Edmunds is one of those artists who is always on the verge of becoming a big name in the pop industry. It started back in 1967, when, as the lead guitarist with the UK band LOVE SCULPTURE, he reached the No 1 spot in the U.K. with Sabre Dance. In 1970 he decided to go solo and his first single, I Hear You Knockin, hit the No. 1 spot in England, selling over 3,000,000 copies. The record made Top 20 in Australia as well.

The song did very well in America, but far better in his native UK (Edmond's Welsh), where it was one of the biggest selling singles of all time to that point. He had several other UK hits, following up with another retro cover: "Baby, I Love You," which made #8 in 1973. He had a number of other hits in his native Britain, among them "Queen of Hearts" and "I Knew The Bride (When She Used To Rock & Roll)."

Canned Heat - "On The Road Again" (1968)
Though the blues originated in the United States, and then were a few credible American blues-rockers (such as The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Captain Beefheart's early groups), the genre was dominated by UK stars like The Roiling Stones, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, and Jeff Beck Group. At the very point where all those acts were at their peak, Canned Heat rushed into the top 40 on September 7 , 1968 with "On the Road Again" adapted from a little known record by Floyd Jones.

Based in Southern California, far from the blues' southern Delta origins, Canned Heat demonstrated with the single that a young American white band could both play the blues credibly and add enough of a psychedelic rock sheen to make it relevant in the late '60's. The modern touches were supplied by a solid rock beat and a pseudo-Eastern tamboura drone, though Al Wilson's eerie high vocal sounded literally out of this world. Canned Heat were dedicated record collectors and folklorists as well as musicians, Wilson had even helped teach legendary Delta bluesman Son House now to play guitar again when House made a comeback on the '60s folk circuit. So it was little surprise they reached all the way back to the '20s for their next hit, "Going Up the Country," which adapted elements from country bluesman Henry Thomas' "Bull Doze Blues".

T. Rex - "Get It On" (1971)
The pioneering glam rock band T. Rex (originally Tyrannosaurus Rex) could do no wrong in their native England. From 1970 to 1973, they had an astonishing ten Top 5 singles, including four #1’s. (Yes, you read that right.) The band was formed in 1967 by guitarist Marc Bolan, who was not quite 20 years-old at the time, and he teamed with producer Tony Visconti to shape the group’s records, a relationship that would continue for eight albums.

In 1971, their British label, Fly, released “Get It On” and it became the band’s second consecutive #1 chart hit on July 24. Their U.S. record label changed the name of the song to “Bang a Gong (Get It On)” to avoid confusion with a song also called “Get It On” which was released that same year by a jazz rock band named Chase.

According to T. Rex drummer Bill Legend, he and Bolan worked out the rhythm one day in Bolan's hotel room, and when the tour got to Los Angeles, the group reconvened with members of the team that worked on their first album: producer Tony Visconti and backup singers Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, who were members of The Turtles and recorded as Flo & Eddie. At Kaylan's home in Laurel Canyon, they spent all night working up the song, and the next day, they recorded it at Wally Heider Studios in LA. When they got to the studio, they had the chorus, the rhythm, and the "you're dirty and sweet" line, but Bolan had to come up with the other lyrics on the spot, indicating he wasn't thinking too hard about them. Everyone agrees that cocaine was involved throughout the process.

Joe Cocker - "With A Little Help From My Friends" (1968)
Joe Cocker's flailing arms, parodied by John Belushi on Saturday Night Live, always gave the impression of a man who was out of control, an impression sometimes heightened by Cocker's lifestyle: it belied a deep, respectful passion for R'n'B, and Ray Charles in particular. After paying hard-earned dues around northern clubs, his rise to fame was swift: a UK Number One single with his cover of 'With A Little Help From My Friends' (the friends included Jimmy Page and Steve Winwood), and notable appearances at Woodstock and the Isle of Wight. The rambling, shambling Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour of the US, organised by Leon Russell in 1970, was a saga of exhaustion (sixty gigs in three months) and self-destruction, and the strain nearly did for him. But Cocker was made of Sheffield steel, re-emerging to duet with Jennifer Warnes on 'Up Where We Belong' and jump-start his career.

The Kinks - "All Of The Day & All Of The Night" (1964)
Given Ray Davies' later dominance, it's worth recalling that it was the Kink's guitarist Dave Davies, his frenetic younger brother, who gave the group's first singles their substantial mettle: he ripped up the speakers in his practice amp and hooked them with a couple of his Vox amps for the raw sound of 'You Really Got Me'. Dave and Ray fought constantly, like all good brotherly bands, but Ray's songwriting skills held sway. By 'Dedicated Follower Of Fashion' and 'Waterloo Sunset' the Kinks had segued to the very model of an English band, with their neatly observed cameos of life in Blighty, always serious but blessed with a twinkling, crinkled smile.

From there on it was but a sprightly stroll towards some concept albums, success in America following 'Lola' ('Celluloid Heroes' was the Hollywood parallel of 'Waterloo') and obeisance from Paul Weller, Supergrass and Blur - whose single 'Country House' was an undisguised tribute to the Kinks' 1966 'House In The Country'.

"All Day and All of the Night" was released as a single in 1964, reaching No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1965. The song was included on the Kinksize Hits EP in the UK and the Kinks' second American album, Kinks-Size (1965). Like their previous hit "You Really Got Me", the song is based on a power chord riff. Both songs are similar in beat and structure, with similar background vocals, progressions, and guitar solos.

Santana - "Black Magic Woman" (1970)

Black Magic Woman was a hit for Santana, but few people know that this song was actually a cover of a 1968 Fleetwood Mac song that hit No.37 in the UK. Peter Green, who was a founding member of Fleetwood Mac, wrote the lyrics.

Many also don't know that Santana started out as a blues band, just like Fleetwood Mac. "I used to go to see the original Fleetwood Mac, and they used to kill me, just knock me out," Carlos Santana said in the book The Guitar Greats. "To me, they were the best blues band."

Santana put their own spin on the song, incorporating Latin textures, but they kept the basic sound from the original intact. Santana keyboard player Gregg Rolie sang lead on this. He later joined Journey in 1973.

On January 10th 1971, "Black Magic Woman" peaked at No.4 (for 2 weeks) on Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; it had entered the chart on November 8th, 1970 and spent 13 weeks on the Top 100 (and 7 of those 13 weeks were on Top 10).

Toto - "Hold The Line" (1978)
“Hold the Line” was released back in 1978 as the band’s first single EVER and also featured in their debut self-titled album. Not many artists had the opportunity to leave such an outstanding first impression the moment they stepped into the cutthroat world of music industry. However, Toto did it with this song – it immediately reached top positions in the USA, Swedish, South African, Canadian and Australian charts. It’s also RIAA certified as “GOLD”.

The song was written by the keyboardist of the band – David Paich and the lead vocals are performed by the incredibly talented Bobby Kimball.

The song features a single-note piano percussion, which was a quite popular technique at that time. In addition, in my opinion, the song’s biggest asset would be the elegant but vigorous “creamy” guitar riff. The song simply proved that six talented session musicians, who used to back up other famous artists can actually make magic on their own from the first try!

“It started out with the piano riff that is in the intro. I started playing this riff and I just couldn’t stop playing it. I played it for days, and I started singing, “Hold the line, love isn’t always on time.” It was a phrase that just came into my head. . . it was a blessing. (The words) came to me in the night, and then I went to the verse. I wrote it in 2 hours. Sometimes songs come quickly like that, and sometimes I spend 2 years trying to finish a song,” said David Paich about the writing of the song.

Bachman-Turner Overdrive - "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (1974)
Randy Bachman lifted a riff here and a phrase there, coming up with Bachman Turner Overdrive's rocktastic classic "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", a song that still pays his bills.

Randy recalls: “I’m looking for something, and then You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet comes along by accident. I was rehearsing and producing BTO’s third album. We needed an FM Top 40 hit, something light with a heavy bit in it. At that time, I was inspired by Traffic’s Dave Mason and his song Only You Know And I Know, which had a dang-a-lang rhythm, and the Doobie Brothers’ Listen To The Music. So I copped those jangling rhythms, changed the chords and then added some power chords of my own. I had a work in progress, in two parts: a great rhythm and a heavy riff.”

“Way back when, my brother Garry, one of four Bachman boys, had a speech impediment; he stuttered and stammered. For the ultimate tease I wrote a song like he spoke. Then I called him up and scared him by telling him it would be on the album. “The words just flowed out without thought: ‘I met a Devil woman, and she took my heart away.’ That sounded good. Then for the chorus I copied the way he’d say: ‘You ain’t seen n-n-nothing yet,’ and also the way he stumbled on ‘f-f-forget’, and the way he said ‘b-b-b baby’. I liked it as an idea but I was never going to finish it off.”

Randy would have shelved the song altogether had not Mercury’s artist liaison man, Charley Fach, intervened.

“He loved the album that became Not Fragile, but he couldn’t hear an FM radio single. He said: ‘It’s great, but we need a hit.’ I’d just done a 90-day tour, so I told him: ‘Take it or leave it. But I do have this real bad work track with an awful Van Morrison impression.’ The engineer played it to him, and within 1 second he said: ‘Put that on the album now.’ A few weeks later he phones me up and says the record is huge!

Note: The title is grammatically incorrect. It is a double-negative, although "You Haven't Seen Anything Yet" wouldn't have the same ring to it.

Status Quo - "Rockin' All Over The World" (1977)
Often dismissed as three-chord jokes, Status Quo have had the last laugh. After four decades, they've racked up over 50 UK Top 40 chart entries, even if only guitarist Rick Parfitt and guitarist/lead singer Francis Rossi have been ever-present.

They started as a psychedelic band whose excellent "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" (1967) saw them gain their only Top 40 American hit. Before tong, though, the group began chafing at their paisley shirts.

They used the album Ma Kelly,s Greasy Spoon (1970) to affirm a new direction: no-nonsense boogie. It's a path from which they have never deviated, iheir crowd pandering, be-jeaned stage act summed up by their literally head-down ax-thrashing (which iconic pose they featured on the cover of their 1972 album Piledriver) and by the tone of their sole UK No.1, "Down Down" (1974).

As time wore on though, the odd country or pop touch crept into the proceedings, their mordant song about tax exiledom, Living on An lsland, (1979) a particular surprise.

Though they write plenty of material themselves, Quo's signature song has become their version of John Fogerty's "Rockin' All Over The World", which entered the UK chart on October 8, 1977. It's stirring celebration of rock was deemed by Bob Geldof to be the perfect way to open 1985's Live Aid concert, thus securing the Quo an immortality even more elevated than their record of more UK chart entries than any other British band.

Steppenwolf - "Born To Be Wild" (1968)
In 1968, rock 'n' roll was becoming harder and more urgent, reflecting the uncertainty and danger of the times - and Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild," which entered the Billboard Top 40 on July 20,1968, sealed the band's legacy in the annals of an angry counterculture with its loud guitar riffs, dense drumming, and outlaw lyrics.

Written by Mars Bonfire (aka Dennis Edmonton), the song's second verse references "heavy metal thunder" the first time the phrase "heavy metal" appeared in song. Steppenwolf's use of the term, first used colloquially by Beat poets Herman Hesse and Williams S. Burroughs, coined the name of the emerging genre - one that dominated the U.S. charts throughout the '70s.

As Steppenwolf singer John Kay commented, "our philosophy was to hit'em hard, make your point, and move on." With its aggressive guitar riffs and lyrics that challenged both mainstream and counterculture values and prized individual freedom above all else, "Born To Be Wild," from the album Steppenwolf (1968), paved the way for bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, and even now for bands like the atmospherically heavy HIM. lt also provided the perfect sonic complement to the influential Dennis Hopper/Peter Fonda biker flick Easy Rider (1969).

Free - "All Right Now" (1970)
Pure and unadulterated, Free emerged as keepers of the flickering flame jf the British blues in a quartet of beautiful balance. Paul Rodgers's Huskily yearning vocals, clothes courtesy of the small ads in Melody Maker; Paul Kossoff stretching his timeless guitar licks with his Les Paul's sustain; teenage Andy Fraser's mile-wide bass; rock-steady Simon Kirke 4/4'ing the whole together on drums. Their manifesto was nowhere better proclaimed than on their 1970 hit "All Right Now".

Alexis Korner had suggested that they call themselves Free after his own blues trio Free At Last, and seemingly erupting out of nowhere, they found themselves up amongst the headline acts at the Isle of Wight Festival of 1970. Yet they were never able to build completely on that success, not least through trying to keep Paul Kossoff's drug addiction under control. 1973's 'Wishing Well', Free's final single, was a heartfelt plea from Rodgers to Kossoff - he failed to heed the song's message, and was dead within three years.

Uriah Heep - "Gypsy" (1970)]
"Gypsy" is the debut single by British progressive rock/hard rock band Uriah Heep. It is the opening track on their first album, …Very 'Eavy …Very 'Umble, released in 1970. "Gypsy" was written by Mick Box and David Byron. The B-side of the song in most countries was "Bird of Prey", though in others, the B-sides were "Wake Up (Set Your Sights)", "Come Away Melinda" and "Lady in Black". The album version of "Gypsy" lasts more than six and half minutes, while the single version lasts less than three minutes.

To differentiate themselves from other Rock bands at the time, Heep replaced the almost obligatory guitar solo with a wild organ solo in this song. The song was one of the heaviest of its time, quickly became one of Heep's most loved songs and is now considered to be one of the most important early heavy metal compositions.

Procol Harum - "Conquistador" (1967)
Formed early 1967 in Southend, Essex, from the ashes of R&B group the Paramounts, Procol Harum's first single, the ethereal Bach-influenced  'A Whiter Shade Of Pale' gave them a huge international hit. Number 1 in the UK for six weeks, it stands as an immortal cornerstone of the celebrated 1967 Summer of Love. Royer and Harrison were replaced by Robin Trower on guitar and B J Wilson on drums during the recording of their first album, but Procol Harum received greater recognition (and healthier record sales) in the US than at home, where their first album to chart was 1969's 'A Salty Dog'.

"Conquistador" was written by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid, and it originally appeared on the band's 1967 self-titled debut album. It was released as a single off the band's 1972 album 'Procol Harum Live In Concert' with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and it is this version that is their most popular release. Note that the version released on this compilation is the original studio version.

Procol Harum's lyricist Keith Reid told Songfacts that the music for "Conquistador" was written before the lyrics. He added that this was unusual as "99 out of 100" of the Procol Harum songs back then, "were written the words first, and then were set to music." 

Joe Walsh - "Rock Mountain Way" (1973)
"Rocky Mountain Way" is a 1973 song by rock guitarist Joe Walsh and his band Barnstorm. The song was originally released on the album The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get. The song features Walsh using a guitar talk box, manufactured by sound engineer Bob Heil, who invented the device used by almost every rock music exponent. The distinct tone "... gives Walsh's blues stomp a futuristic wave, as if a hulking mechanical beast was looming just over those rocky mountains

Joe explained in an article for Rolling Stone Magazine - I had left the James Gang, left Cleveland and gone to Colorado because Bill Szymczyk was there and so were a whole bunch of other people I knew. We had the Smoker album pretty much done [1973's The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get] except we had this one track that was an instrumental. I couldn't think of any words and everybody was patiently waiting for me to come up with something.

One day I was in my backyard in Boulder mowing the lawn and I was thinking, "Boy, I sure hope leaving the James Gang was a good idea!" Because I hadn't really surfaced as a solo act yet. I was almost there, but not quite. And then I looked up … and there were the Rocky Mountains. It was summer but you could still see snow on the back range. It just hit me how beautiful it all was, 5,000 feet up. And that was it – the words came: "Spent the last year Rocky Mountain way/Couldn't get much higher." And the second verse is about my old management – telling us this, telling us that, time to change the batter. I got all of that at once. And I ran inside to write it down before I forgot it.

Only problem was, I forgot to shut off the lawnmower. It kept moving and went into the neighbour's yard and ate her rose bushes. Cleared a little path straight through. So those lyrics wound up costing me, I don't know, maybe 1,500 bucks. But it was well worth it. The neighbour, though, she was pissed. I said to her, "You don't understand! I got the words!" But she just looked at me. [My Life in 15 Songs: Rolling Stone, May 2016]

Cheap Trick - "Dream Police" (1979)
"Dream Police" is a song written by Rick Nielsen and originally released in 1979 by the American rock band Cheap Trick. It is the first track on the group's album of the same name. Nielsen has stated that the song "is an attempt to take a heavy thought - a quick bit of REM snatched right before waking up - and put into a pop format." He also stated that "the song was about Big Brother watching you.

"Dream Police" dates back to 1976. It was one of 22 songs the band had written for their first album, and it didn't make the cut. The song evolved as they played it live and refined it in the studio, and it was released as the title track of their fourth studio album. By this time, their live album At Budokan had been released, breaking them big with the single "I Want You To Want Me." The next single was "Dream Police," and it became one of their most popular songs, reaching #26 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100.

Rod Stewart - "Maggie May" (1971)
In the '60s, The Beatles had topped UK and U.S single and album charts all at the same time but never technically with the same product, it took Rod Stewart to achieve what even the mighty Fabs hadn't. Still the frontman of The Faces but increasingly becoming better known for his solo albums, in 1971 Stewart recorded his LP masterpiece, 'Every Picture Tells A story'. As usual, it was made up of a highly unusual mixture of folk, soul, and rock, an epic version of "I'm Losing You" rubbing shoulders with Stewarts beautiful rustic evocation of frontier life, "Mandolin Wind." It also featured a collaboration between Stewart and classical guitarist Martin Quittenton about the artist's first sexual conquest.

Despite a raunchy theme and a catchy, jangling melody set off by an arresting mandolin solo, all driven home by Stewart's unique emotional rasp, Mercury Records didn't think that the song was hit material, relegating it to a B-side, instead, "Reason To Believe" was chosen as the album's single. But fate in the form of DJ opinion intervened, and the single "Maggie May" was given the radio play she deserved; on October 9, 1971, the song topped the singles charts in the UK. it had made the top spot in the United States on October 2, the same day as the album had topped the U.S. album charts. With the album also lodged at NO. 1 in Britain, it made for an unprecedented double-double whammy.

Boston - "More Than A Feeling" (1976)
At one time, Boston’s debut release was the fastest-selling debut album of all time. Nearly everything about this album is masterfully crafted, from the volume to the layering and everything in-between. The musicianship found in every song is superb. While Tom Scholz plays several instruments, his most notable is the guitar. Although there are many good musicians out there, that’s not where Boston makes it’s case.

Take for instance the opening track “More Than a Feeling.” This debut single entered the Billboard chart on October 16, 1976 on its way to peak at No. 5. Aside from having one of the more recognizable riffs, the way everything comes into place at just the right time is something few were able to do before Boston.

It’s sound is difficult to explain without listening to the album, but I'll give it a try. Imagine a level of sound where the lead guitar is playing and the forefront, where it usually is. With Boston, Scholz found a way to make every instrument, from the drums, to the organ, to the bass; be easily heard at the same time, in just the right places for maximum effect.

There’s something about Boston's debut LP that makes it one of the best LP's of all time, and although they hit it big with their single "More Than A Feeling", this album has much, much more to offer.

This post consists of FLACS ripped from my Concept Vinyl and includes full album artwork and label scans.  This is one of my favourite compilation albums and offers a broad range of hits from the 60's and 70''s.  A couple of rarities worth mentioning on this comp: Uriah Heep's "Gypsy" (the single release being a shorter version to the album release that people are more familiar with) and Procol Harum's studio version of Conquistador (most people are more familiar with the Live version).  

The only negative I have with this comp is the absence of any Aussie Anthems, which is a bit short sighted of the part of Concept in my opinion.  But then again, this is only a Concept Record !   LOL

Tracklist

A1 – Meat Loaf (Bat Out Of Hell)

A2 – Elton John (Crocodile Rock)

A3 – The Spencer Davis Group (Gimme Some Lovin')

A4 – Dave Edmunds (I Hear You Knocking)

A5 – Canned Heat (On The Road Again)

A6 – T. Rex  (Get It On)

A7 – Joe Cocker (With A Little Help From My Friends)

A8 – The Kinks (All Day & All Of The Night)

A9 – Santana (Black Magic Woman)

A10 – Toto (Hold The Line)

B1 – Bachman-Turner Overdrive    (You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet)

B2 – Status Quo (Rockin' All Over The World)

B3 – Steppenwolf    (Born To Be Wild)

B4 – Free (All Right Now)

B5 – Uriah Heep (Gypsy)

B6 – Procol Harum (Conquistador)

B7 – Joe Walsh (Rocky Mountain Way)

B8 – Cheap Trick    (Dream Police)

B9 – Rod Stewart    (Maggie May)

B10 – Boston   (More Than A Feeling)

Rock Anthems Link (437Mb) New Link 05/01/2024