BAB – 1975

Albums

1) In Praise Of Learning – Henry Cow (Living In The heart Of The Beast) Second collaboration between HC & SH simply going by Henry Cow at this point.  Just for fun an earlier Henry Cow only version (Halstern), fantastic. 1b) Slapp Happy/Henry Cow – Desperate Straights (Riding Tigers, Apes In Capes) First collaboration between these two bands. Rumor has it that the Henry Cow folks asked Dagmar Krause to join and she refused so they merged bands. Most of this material is clearly Slapp Happy with Henry Cow as the backing band as opposed to the above In Praise of Learning which again is both bands but credited to Henry Cow and a more HC leaning vibe.

2) Tonight’s The Night – Neil Young (Borrowed Tune,  Tonight’s The Night)

3) Bongo Fury – Zappa/Mothers/Beefheart

4) Another Green World – Brian Eno (Sky Saw, Golden Hours)

5) Fish Rising – Steve Hillage – A delightful dish of the Canturbery! Dig how Hillage, Dave Stewert, Pierre Moerlin and company  go absolutely PROG during the “Hiram Afterglid meets the Dervish” movement (10:30 – 13:30) of Solar Mystik Suite…what a jam!

6) Hissing Of Summer Lawns – Joni Mitchell ( The Jungle Line)

7)  Voyage Of The Acolyte – Steve Hackett

8) Sunset Glow – Julie Tippetts (Sunset Glow)

9) The Mothership Connection – Parliament (Give Up The Funk) Parliament/Funkadelic attempt to conquer the world in 1975. Also see Chocolate City (Side Effects), Let’s take It To The Stage (Better By The Pound).

10) Warrior On The Edge Of Time – Hawkwind

Honorable Mention – Bob Dylan & The Band – The Basement Tapes (Tiny Montgomery, Lo And Behold!) Understood that this is not technically 1975, more like ’67/’68 but released officially in ’75.

Songs

1) Throw Back The Little Ones – Steely Dan (Katy Lied)

2) Cobrade – Eddie Palmieri (Unfinished Masterpiece)

3) Right – David Bowie*

4) Barstool Blues – Neil Young/Crazy Horse (Zuma)

5) Symptom Of The Universe – Black Sabbath (Sabotage)

6) Gary’s Step – Sonny & Linda Sharrock

7) ¾ -Carla Bley

8) Deixe Entrar Um Pouco D’água No Quintal – Os Mutantes (Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol)

9)  See Land – Neu (Neu ’75)

10) Minstrel In The Gallery – Jethro Tull (Minstrel In The Gallery)

* If you are in the unfortunate habit of disregarding Young Americans as I was guilty of please give this an honest listen.

The “Other 10”

1) Julius Hemphill – Coon Bidness – A left over track from the Dogon A.D. sessions, The Hard Blues is perhaps the heaviest thing ever…Jeez, could Abdul Wadud’s Cello burn and slower?

2)  Frank Lowe – Fresh –  Wadud from the above Hard Blues and Shaw from the below Rocket along with both Bowie brothers (Lester & Joseph…not David) can be found laying out the classic Fresh as well as a gloriously loose (sloppy?) take on Monk’s Epistrophy.

3)  Roscoe Mitchell – Quartet – A lot of overlap again as this features Abrams as well as the recording debut of George Lewis on trombone. Troona…I find this so very intense!

4)  Oliver Lake – Heavy Spirits – An unheralded and underappreciated absolute gem. Dig Charles Bobo Shaw’s rhythm on Rocket.

5)  Air – Air Song – Debut Lp from Henry Threagill, Steve McCall, & Fred Hopkins who would lay down some of the greatest composed and free music of the 70’s.

6)  The Revolutionary Ensemble – The Psyche – Leroy Jenkins and company…anything but your typical chamber jazz outfit.

7)  Creative Construction Company – Volume 1 – AACM heavy weights Anthony Braxton, Steve McCall,  Muhal Richard Abrams, Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins,&  Richard Davis. Seen by many as THE representation of AACM it’s fitting two tracks are composed and named after the founder (Muhal Part 1, Muhal Part 2).

8)  Don Cherry – Brown Rice – That’s Don’s electric piano on the title track while Frank Lowe blows his guts out over the top.

9)  Peter Brotzmann, Fred Van Hove, Han Bennink – Tschus

10)  Anthony Braxton Five – New York Fall 1974 (Composition 23a, Composition 23b) Wow Mr. Braxton hanging out at the bottom…who would have thought?

1975, What a Crazy Year in Music

SONGS

Nights on Broadway (Bee Gees). Was tempted to skip this one since Main Course already appears in Tim’s album list, and I’ve mentioned this track before in a previous theme. But this song has one of my favorite bridges, and, remember, I was a living, breathing, hardcore AM radio listener in 1975. This song takes me back like no other.

30 Seconds Over Tokyo/Heart of Darkness (Pere Ubu). How would my life be different if I’d picked up this single in 1975 instead of, what, America’s “Sister Golden Hair?” What would I have thought of it if I had? Can’t select one of these songs over the other, they are both so utterly ground-breaking. Not my favorite early Ubu single, that would be their next one released in early ’76, “Final Solution,” but this is close.

Shining Star (Earth, Wind, and Fire)

Love Rollercoaster (Ohio Players). Another one that took my head off in 1975.

Simple Twist of Fate (Bob Dylan). I have a hard time listening to the studio version of Blood on the Tracks ever since Bob sent me the boot of the New York recordings. Thought of listing that in albums, because it is one of my desert island records, but it wasn’t released as a boot until sometime in the 90s I think. This track is one of the five NY recordings that wasn’t re-recorded in Minneapolis, and appears on the original studio album. What a love song.

Desperadoes Waiting for a Train (Guy Clark)

Stranglehold (Ted Nugent). If you can get past the lyrics.

Muddy Mouse (c) which in turn leads to Muddy Mouth (Robert Wyatt)

Beat the Retreat (Richard & Linda Thompson)

Cortez the Killer (Neil Young)

ALBUMS

Bruce Cockburn–Joy Will Find a Way. 10 tracks delivered straight from heaven. And I’m not even religious.

Slapp Happy/Henry Cow–Desperate Straights. Like all the great ones, it took me a while to get this. Glad I did.

Julius Hemphill–‘Coon Bid’ness. The final 20 plus minute “Hard Blues” groove orgy turned me on to this initially. Have grown to appreciate the other tracks even more (“Skin,” “Lyric“), if that is possible. Two great groups that both include one of my favorite musicians of all time, Abdul Wadud, who always makes me wish the cello appeared more often in jazz, and that there was more of him on record. But you can be endlessly thrilled focusing on any of the musicians on this record, or the combination.

Eno–Another Green World

Joni Mitchell–The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Neil Young–Tonight’s the Night

Jerry Lee Lewis–Boogie Woogie Country Man. My favorite country album by the Killer.

Mary McCaslin–Prairie in the Sky. This album is a masterpiece of western country. I listened to one of Emmylou Harris’ 1975 releases and this one back to back. The songs on the much-lauded Elite Hotel don’t approach these. They really don’t.

Steely Dan–Katy Lied. I know they are not beloved by all here, especially their mid-70s records. I love everything about this and Aja. The studio precision and perfection and the incredible musicianship and arrangements don’t detract a bit from the great melodies and increasingly mature lyrics, they enhance them.

Budgie–Bandolier. To add a little balance this year that includes great music of every type, I’ve got to include one of the great hard rock albums here.

I tried to listen to every record in my collection released in 1975 last month, and might have made it had I not played these selections and others multiple times. There are dozens of other albums I might have listed on another day. I even tried to list my favorite 75 from 75, if you’re interested. I might have included any of the top 50 or so. Here’s every 1975 record in my collection, most rated on a scale of 1-5.