1970s LA Rarities
- Thread starter Woebot
- Start date
mike nesmith / gram parsons science?
or
eagles / stephen stills / jackson browne science?
Fyi, Woebot has been talking about 'laurel canyon' or LA music of the 1970s on his blog recently.
I really enjoyed the original Woebot blog post as it led me to some music that I ignored (as usual). I first heard the David Crosby solo record a few years ago and always loved it, but it kind of felt like a guilty pleasure--anyways it's nice to know that that isn't necessarily the case. Regardless, the Gene Clark and Judee Sill albums I scored on iTMS and are both really lovely.
I suppose my acquaintance with this music is more the California records that came before these selections like the first couple of Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks records. I'd like to point out that the sense of entitlement discussed in the blog post seems totally to apply to "Song Cycle."
Someone whose late 60s reminds a lot of this music but whether or not he would be included is Lee Hazlewood. Smells Like Records rereleased a lot of his early 70s work a couple of years back and it's worth checking out. "Love and Other Crimes" is my favorite and is sadly out of print, but is available on a sharity blog somewhere.
I suppose my acquaintance with this music is more the California records that came before these selections like the first couple of Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks records. I'd like to point out that the sense of entitlement discussed in the blog post seems totally to apply to "Song Cycle."
Someone whose late 60s reminds a lot of this music but whether or not he would be included is Lee Hazlewood. Smells Like Records rereleased a lot of his early 70s work a couple of years back and it's worth checking out. "Love and Other Crimes" is my favorite and is sadly out of print, but is available on a sharity blog somewhere.
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the recent re-issue of Saturn Rings, by Michele is a revelation...bridges the gap between the psychedelic folk of Linda Perhacs/Judee Sill and the sugar-pop of The Millennium/Merry Go-Round...probably the earliest appearance of Lowell George (he doesn't even play guitar, but rather flute and harmonica)...cover art by Dean Torrence (of Jan & Dean fame, if that means anything)...gets a little cutesy at times ("Spinning Spinning Spinning") but is worth it alone for the epic "Lament Of The Astro Cowboy"...I reckon that if you have any interest in late-60's LA music (this was originally issued in '69) this title alone would and should hook you in...
childrentalking
Well-known member
you've probably already heard it (?) but the recent Wayfaring Strangers: Ladies from the Canyon compilation might lead you up some interesting avenues.
Woebot
Well-known member
yeah nice spotting. lee's "requiem for an almost lady" sooooo nearly made it onto the oddball section of No LA but i thought i was maybe showing off a bit too much with that un.
Gabba Flamenco Crossover
High Sierra Skullfuck
Check out American Flyer - American Flyer. Produced by George Martin & lush as hell. The band included ex-Velvet Doug Yule, but this is the anti-VU!
I also love the Emmylou Harris records from this era especially Quarter Mooon In A Ten Cent Town... Nashville looking to LA, as LA looked to Nashville with the Eagles et al.
I got a Hall & Oates record from 1974 yesterday (Abandoned Luncheonette) that might fit the bill, but I havent listened to it yet.
Oh, and David Ackles.
I also love the Emmylou Harris records from this era especially Quarter Mooon In A Ten Cent Town... Nashville looking to LA, as LA looked to Nashville with the Eagles et al.
I got a Hall & Oates record from 1974 yesterday (Abandoned Luncheonette) that might fit the bill, but I havent listened to it yet.
Oh, and David Ackles.
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Just thinking aloud...I wonder how many obscurities actually exist of this stuff. I guess I'm thinking of 70s LA music as being fed by a similar situation as 70s Hollywood. If you've read Easy Riders and Raging Bulls, you might catch my drift. Basically, in the late 60s/early 70s the film industry had no idea what to do in terms of maintaining sales, so they brought in these young hipsters and threw money at all sorts of projects that would have been considered to out there half a decade earlier. I'm suggesting this because it seems that the interesting feature of this music is that it was almost all released by major labels because major labels seemed willing to release this music at the time. In other words, is it possible that through some alignment of the stars that a most of the people in this scene were able to get this music out and available so that it was never totally obscure?
I can think of a few exceptions of forgotten records like Linda Perhacs (that was on Kapp, not a tiny label), but are there truly many others?
As an amusing aside, I tried pushing the David Crosby record on a friend of mine and it's a really tough sell. I had to preface the whole discussion with, "you have to get past the cover, the album name and the David Crosby."
I can think of a few exceptions of forgotten records like Linda Perhacs (that was on Kapp, not a tiny label), but are there truly many others?
As an amusing aside, I tried pushing the David Crosby record on a friend of mine and it's a really tough sell. I had to preface the whole discussion with, "you have to get past the cover, the album name and the David Crosby."
Gabba Flamenco Crossover
High Sierra Skullfuck
...and because only majors could afford to record it. That lushness don't come cheap. There was a lot of money in the music industry then, compared to now. You read about prog bands being installed in a residential studio for months and left to get on with it, with thier a&r phoning briefly every week or so to see if they needed another cheque.
WTF? It's one of the greatest covers ever!
I don't know if they are rarities but have you heard any of the Shawn Philips records? It's been a while since I played it but I remember thinking this one where he's dressed in black on the cover (looking like he's out of El Topo maybe) was pretty good. The one before or maybe after is similar too, he's in some 1920's car on the cover of that one.
i was also going to suggest Shawn Phillips
his outlook is maybe a lot more "prog" than the LA musicians in Woebot's blog
"Second Contribution" is the LP that jd mentions and i like the way it moves all over the place from folk to rock to funk- but it seems a lot more frantic than his LA contemporaries
his outlook is maybe a lot more "prog" than the LA musicians in Woebot's blog
"Second Contribution" is the LP that jd mentions and i like the way it moves all over the place from folk to rock to funk- but it seems a lot more frantic than his LA contemporaries