1970s – Page 4 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Ronnie Lane – Kuschty Rye

I first started to get into Ronnie Lane when I watched a documentary about him called The Passing Show back in 2018. I could not get Lane out of my head, and I started to listen to more and more. I found bloggers who felt the same way about him. Lane was the bass player, songwriter, and sometimes vocalist for The Small Faces and Faces.

I’m not super knowledgeable about Ronnie Lane yet, but I’m learning every day. His music grounds me and makes me appreciate music, roots music firmly planted. Lane was never about running down hits, and I’m so thankful for that. You won’t hear a disco Ronnie Lane record. Although he had a big hit in the UK with the song How Come, but he didn’t compromise; he did it fully in his style.

After leaving the Faces, he traded the big stages and rock stardom for caravans, campfires, big tents, and the open English countryside. You can hear that freedom in this song. After he left the Faces, he toured around the countryside with a caravan and a big tent and did concerts. He would record outside sometimes, and on some recordings, you can hear chickens, kids, and the wind.

This song was released in 1979 on the album See Me. This would be his last album. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1976 but continued to tour with Eric Clapton and others, and in the early 80s migrated to Houston, Texas, for medical treatments. He would pass away in 1997.

I came across an artist named Des Horsfall, who released a tribute album to Ronnie Lane in 2011. Artists like Pete Townshend loved the album and said it was killer. This is from this website: One of Horsfall’s primary reasons for the original CD release of ‘The Good Gentleman’s Tonic’ was to encourage a new audience of music listeners to seek out the three original Slim Chance LPs. At the time, these had been out of print for many years and could only be sought at expensive prices through online resellers and auction websites.

Now all three are available.

Here is a live concert, and I have it starting at Kuschty Rye…but I would recommend spending an hour or so listening to the concert that was performed in 1980 on Rockpalast.

Kuschty Rye

Oh, where I come from
There ain’t nobody
Nobody quite like you
Who blessed my soul, is cold on Sunday
And always evades the truth

Whose lingo comes from God knows where
And he surely knows more than I
Who also knows how mocked I am
When you call me your kuschty rye

And I say hey, honey
I hold you way up too high for me
Whoa, come on baby
I put you way up too high for me

She learned me life is sweet
And God is good
And he always will provide
She taught me all I never knew
And she taught me more besides

So I say hey, come on honey
I hold you way up too high for me
Whoa, now come on baby
I put you way up too high for me

Whose lingo comes from God knows where
And he surely knows more than I
Who also knows how mocked I am
When you call me your kuschty rye

So I say hey, hey honey
I hold you way up too high for me
Whoa, now come on baby
I put you way up too high for me

…

Goose Creek Symphony – Words Of Earnest

I wanted to throw something different at you today, and this is something different. As I was looking for some more roots music, I heard this and loved it. It took me a couple of listens…I haven’t stopped listening to it all week. It is roots music, no doubt, and heavy back porch bluegrass country with a tinge of rock. I love the melody, chord structure, and the dynamics they built in. It starts off as country as cornbread but switches gears with some horns, guitar breaks, and fiddle near the end. Although the country voice is there, the music is more rock structured. I’m not sure what to call it, but I’ll just call it good.

They were a very original band that blended country, rock, bluegrass, and psychedelic into something that didn’t fit anywhere. They were too twangy for the rock crowd, too trippy for Nashville, and too Kentucky-mountain raw for L.A.. When I listened to this song, I was won over.

This was the title track of their 1972 album. I’ve read reviews about this album, and some called it a masterpiece of cosmic Americana. The album should’ve been their big breakthrough, but Capitol didn’t know what to do with them since they didn’t fit neatly in a box.

Goose Creek Symphony was formed in the late 1960s by Charlie Gearheart, a Kentucky songwriter with country and rock ‘n’ roll influences. Gearheart, whose real name was Paul “Charlie” Gearheart, had played around in bluegrass and psychedelic rock bar bands before deciding to mix the two, to let fiddles, horns, banjos, and Telecasters mix together.

He gathered a very talented bunch of musicians from Kentucky and Arizona, naming the group after a small town near his old Kentucky home: Goose Creek. Early members included Michael “Ted” Reeder on drums, Alvin Bennett, and William “Charlie” Prichard on guitar and fiddle, all guys who could swap instruments mid-song without losing the groove.

They did have a hit in 1972 with the cover of Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz. That was on this album as well.

Words of Earnest

Lived in the city and I lived in the wood;
Lived through the fire and I lived through the flood,
Lived through the summer when the creek went dry;
Guess I’ll keep living til the day I die,
I think I’ve done everything, In my time;
Everything I didn’t do wasn’t worth doing when I had that time, OH no

Talked to the prophets and I talked to the fool;
Even tried work and I even tried school,
Fell in love I got pushed through hate;
Even drove my car through a big steel gate,
I think I’ve done everything, In my time
Everything I didn’t do wasn’t worth doing when I had that time,

Deep in the hills of old Kentucky, Once lived a man I used to know;
He got up every morning at the crack of dawn, Earnest was his name you know
He was full of love an understanding, Never had a nickle or a dime;
Happiness is free, is what he said to me, Earnest was a friend of mine,
Friend of mine,

To many people on the same old road;
Loaded down with the same old load,
To live a good life you can’t do it that way;
Cause every day is different an it’s different every day,
Gotta do everything, in your time;
Everything you wanna do, Really worth do when I had that time, OH Yeah it is

Nobody knows when I’m lonely, Nobody knows when I’m blue;
Nobody knows when I’m happy, Nobody knows that I’m blue,
Nobody knows that I love everyone, Nobody knows that I’m fine;
Nobody ever gets in my way, Cause nobody’s on my mind

Alice Cooper – No More Mr. Nice Guy

I grew up with this band as they were played on AM radio, and we had a few singles. What I just realized recently is how pop this all sounds. For all the guillotines, snakes, and fake blood of Cooper’s stage show, this song could have sat alongside power pop songs of the era. That is a compliment.

It took me a long time to figure out that Alice Cooper was a band, not the lead singer (well, until they broke up). The change from the band name to the singer’s name occurred in 1975 when the original band broke up, and the lead singer, Vincent Furnier, legally changed his name to Alice Cooper so he could continue with that name. The band, originally called The Earwigs and then The Spiders, decided to change their name to Alice Cooper in 1968. They wanted a name that was wholesome-sounding, a contrast to their horror-themed image. For publicity, the band said it came from an Ouija board and Alice was a witch from long ago.

By 1973, Alice Cooper wasn’t just a band; they were a phenomenon. The name Alice had gone from a person to a brand, from a weird underground theater act to global headlines. I would say Alice Cooper and Ziggy Stardust were the big theater kind of acts until KISS came along later.

Cooper wrote this song with Michael Bruce, who was a member of the original Alice Cooper. Bruce played guitar, keyboards, and contributed vocals as a band member. He was also the group’s chief songwriter and wrote or co-wrote many of their most-recognized songs, including School’s Out, Under My Wheels, I’m Eighteen, Ballad of Dwight Fry, Be My Lover, Desperado, and Billion Dollar Babies.

This song was an answer to nervous mothers and everyone else who was scared of his influence. He was basically saying he was going to keep doing what he was doing. Funny thing is, now Alice Cooper is one of the most grounded rock stars of them all. I saw him open up for the Rolling Stones in 2006, and he was great! With the little bit of makeup he was using, he looked like he walked out of 1973.

This was the third single from Billion Dollar Babies, the sixth studio album by Alice Cooper. This was the band’s most commercially successful album. It topped the album charts in both the United States and the UK, and also made the Top 10 in Australia, Austria, and Canada. Bob Ezrin was the producer who produced many of Alice Cooper’s albums. Alice called Ezrin our George Martin.

The song peaked at #15 on the Billboard 100 and #10 in the UK in 1973

No More Mr. Nice Guy

I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing
‘Til they got a hold of me.
I opened doors for little old ladies,
I helped the blind to see.
I got no friends ’cause they read the papers.
They can’t be seen with me and I’m gettin’ real shot down
And I’m feeling mean.

[Chorus]
No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he’s sick, he’s obscene.

I got no friends ’cause they read the papers.
They can’t be seen with me and I’m feelin’ real shot down
And I’m gettin’ mean.

No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
They say he’s sick, he’s obscene.

My dog bit me on the leg today.
My cat clawed my eyes.
Ma’s been thrown out of the social circle,
And dad has to hide.
I went to church incognito.
When everybody rose, the Reverend Smith,
He recognized me,
And punched me in the nose, he said.

No more Mister Nice Guy,
No more Mister Clean,
No more Mister Nice Guy,
He said you’re sick, you’re obscene.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Devil’s Platform

November 15, 1974 Season 1 Episode 7

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This episode stands out as one of the most polished and eerie episodes of Kolchak: The Night Stalker. It blended political ambition with supernatural horror in a way that worked. The episode follows Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), the Chicago reporter who never backs down from a strange lead, as he investigates a string of mysterious deaths, all linked to a political figure, Robert Palmer (played by a favorite actor of mine, Tom Skerritt). Palmer’s charm and clean-cut image make him the perfect candidate for office, except for one detail: he’s literally made a deal with the Devil.

What makes this story memorable is how grounded it feels. The murders are bad enough, but the real horror comes from the suggestion that evil often hides behind respectability. Kolchak’s investigation takes him through a web of corruption and secrecy, from a reporter’s curiosity to outright disbelief that someone could strike a deal with the devil in modern Chicago. Yet as always, Kolchak’s sense for the bizarre proves right, and the evidence, mysterious paw prints, unexplained fires, and a black dog that appears and vanishes, points squarely toward the supernatural. The dog starts to follow Kolchack at the beginning. My guess is that this was influenced by The Exorcist, which was released a year earlier.

Skerritt plays Palmer as a man who seems almost too perfect, a slick politician whose every move is rehearsed. The scenes between McGavin and Skerritt are great, especially when Kolchak pushes too hard and Palmer’s mask slips just enough to reveal him. Tony Vincenzo (Kolchak’s boss) is more open in this one to Carl investigating this politician, although minus the he made a deal with the devil part. He is willing to go along with everything but that.

It remains one of Kolchak’s finest episodes so far, smartly written and unsettling. It captures everything that made the series unique. It’s a good commentary about power, ambition, and the price of selling one’s soul.

SPOILER

The climax, involving a showdown between Kolchak and Palmer, delivers both suspense and irony, as the Devil’s disciple realizes that even dark deals have expiration dates.

One line I loved, Kolchak’s boss, Tony Vincenzo, and Kolchak were arguing about Carl’s suit and hat. Kolchak asked him what bothered him so much about his hat? Vincenzo’s reply was classic: “What’s under it.”

The Complete Episode

Band – Katie’s Been Gone

I was revisiting Bob Dylan and The Band’s The Basement Tapes album. How could that many great songs come in one collection? And that is just the original version, not the expanded versions released since. I didn’t grow up with this album, unfortunately. I grew up with The Band’s Greatest Hits; the irony is, I didn’t have the greatest at all by this band with that package.

This one was written by Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson. It’s easy to forget that this song was never meant for public ears. These were friends, playing in a basement in West Saugerties (in the Big Pink), playing for themselves after the chaos of Dylan’s electric 1966 tour. Was Katie a real person? We probably will never know, but it is widely believed to be a reference to the folk singer Karen Dalton, a friend of Bob Dylan and a popular figure in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s.

The song opens with Richard Manuel’s gospel type piano and that half-broken voice of his. Manuel was a master of singing the heartache between the notes. When Richard Manuel sings it, you believe every cracked note. Rick Danko chipped in with his usual ragged and real vocal harmonies. Those harmonies would make a pure pop producer cry, but for roots music, it’s beyond perfection. It’s those back porch vocals that are real and keep the song grounded.

Among Dylan fans, some were upset that some Band-only songs were on here. Some thought that this release would be wall-to-wall Dylan. That caused some head-scratching among Dylan diehards. In truth, Robbie Robertson and The Band had a big hand in shaping what eventually became The Basement Tapes. Robbie helped assemble and clean up the collection, selecting from reels upon reels of material recorded in 1967 at Big Pink in Woodstock. He included Band-only tracks like this song, Bessie Smith, Orange Juice Blues, and Ain’t No More Cane, not because they were Dylan-free, but because they fit the mood. Fitting the mood is what The Band did best.

Robbie Robertson:“Because of all this stuff the Hawks had been through, [we had] a maturity in our musical taste, in our approach. We didn’t feel a part of what was happening at that time out in the world. We weren’t very good at being trendy. It wasn’t that we tried not to do anything, it was just we were evolving to a place and a musicality that had subtleties. Music was just getting louder and more abrasive.

“I understood the attitude and the anger and the excitement of everything that was happening, but we’d already done that. I started with Ronnie Hawkins and screaming on my guitar. [laughs] And now to be able to really play and think: we didn’t use these phrases at the time, but it’s what you leave out — and less is more. There was something about things that just slipped in and what that did to your heartbeat and how it made you feel. It was sexy and it was beautiful and sad and a celebration all at the same time. I thought that’s where we’ve grown to and that’s where we’re going with this.”

Katie’s Been Gone

Katie’s been gone since the springtimeShe wrote one time and sent her loveKatie’s been gone for such a long time nowI wonder what kind of love she’s thinkin’ of

Dear KatieIf you can hear meI can’t wait to have ya near me

Dear Katie, since ya caught that busWell, I just don’t know how things are with usI’m still here and you’re out there somewhere

Katie laughed when I said I was lonelyShe said, “There’s no need to feel that way”Katie said that I was her only oneBut then I wonder why she didn’t wanna stay

Dear Katie, if I’m the only oneHow much longer will you be gone?Oh, Katie, won’t ya tell me straightHow much longer do I have to wait?

I’ll believe youBut please come throughI know it’s wrong to be apart this longYou should be here, near me

Katie’s been gone and now her face is slowly fading from my mindShe’s gone to find some newer placesAnd left the old life far behindDear Katie, don’t ya miss your home?I don’t see why you had to roam

Dear Katie, since you’ve been awayI lose a little something every dayI need you here, but you’re still out thereDear Katie, please drop me a lineJust write, Love, to tell me you’re fine

Oh, Katie, if you can hear meI just cant wait to have you near meI can only thinkWhere are youWhat ya do, maybe there’s someone new

Rare Earth – I Just Want To Celebrate

I’m so thankful for a cousin who gave me and my sister a lot of singles. Cool singles, not the ones my sister had. I remember this single because of the artwork. The singles artwork really caught my attention, and when I think of this song, I think of the single spinning around. The groove in this song is hard to resist.

This band helped bridge the gap between Motown soul and straight-up rock and roll. This band was Motown’s attempt to be played on FM radio, and it worked. Rare Earth’s success was more than just a one-off hit; it marked a turning point for Motown. Before these Detroit rockers came along, Berry Gordy’s label was almost exclusively known for its soul and R&B greats: The Temptations, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and Stevie Wonder. But in 1969, Gordy decided to take a chance on the growing rock audience and launched Rare Earth Records, a Motown imprint named after the band itself. The idea worked while it showcased white rock groups who could carry that Motown groove into new territory. Berry took a chance and it paid off with this band.

Rare Earth was a blue-collar group of guys who could play as hard as Grand Funk but still had a Motown groove. The band had already made some noise with stretched-out covers like Get Ready, (I Know) I’m Losing You, but I Just Want to Celebrate was the one they will be remembered by the most.

This song peaked at #7 on the Billboard 100 and #10 in Canada in 1971. It was off their album One World. This was Rare Earth’s last top 10 single. The song was written by Dino Fekaris and Nick Zesses. This song has been covered by a span of artists, such as David Ruffin, rapper Foxy Brown, Metallica, and Marshall Crenshaw. How is that for different genres?

The song has had one of those second lives most bands only dream about. Decades after its release, the song kept finding new audiences, blasting out in movies like Tropic Thunder, Three Kings, and A Knight’s Tale, and even in TV spots for Ford, Nike, and Coca-Cola.

The song has been in countless commercials and movies. It is one of those songs that makes you feel good! It’s got soul, rock, and that Detroit groove, no overthinking, just joy. The band is still playing today, but with no original members.

I Just Want To Celebrate

One, two, three, four

I just want to celebrate another day of livin’
I just want to celebrate another day of life
I put my faith in the people
But the people let me down
So I turned the other way
And I carry on, anyhow

That’s why I’m telling you
I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah
Another day of living, yeah
I just want to celebrate another day of life
Had my hand on the dollar bill
And the dollar bill flew away
But the sun is shining down on me
And it’s here to stay

That’s why I’m telling you
I just want to celebrate, yeah, yeah
Another day of living, yeah
I just want to celebrate another day of livin’
I just want to celebrate another day of life

Don’t let it all get you down, no, no
Don’t let it turn you around and around and around, no

Well, I can’t be bothered with sorrow
And I can’t be bothered with hate, no, no
I’m using up the time but feeling fine, every day
That’s why I’m telling you I just want to celebrate
Oh, yeah
I just want to celebrate another day
Oh, I just want to celebrate another day of livin’
I just want to celebrate another day of life

Don’t let it all get you down, no, no
Don’t let it turn you around and around, and around, and around
And around, and round, and round
Round, round, round, round
Round, round, round, round
Round, round, round, round
Don’t go round

I just want to celebrate
I just want to celebrate
Well, I just want to celebrate
Said I just want to celebrate (celebrate)
I just want to celebrate (I want to celebrate)
I just want to celebrate (I got to celebrate)
I just want to celebrate

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – Firefall

November 08, 1974 Season 1 Episode 6

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This episode brought to mind the Twilight Zone episode, Mirror Image. A much more deadly version, though. The noir type of narration helps in this one because of the unusual story. Kolchak gets more involved in this one than most… he is in the center of it.

This one has a very different storyline from the others so far. By the time Kolchak: The Night Stalker aired this episode, the series had already established itself as a mix of noir and dark humor. This episode presents one of the show’s more psychologically complex stories. Instead of a vampire, werewolf, or zombie, this one focuses on a ghost-like “doppelganger,” a mysterious double that stalks its victim until it kills him. The result is a haunting-filled hour that shows just how flexible the Kolchak format could be.

The story begins when Kolchak investigates a series of spontaneous combustions connected to a famous symphony conductor, Ryder Bond. People around Bond are dying in fiery, unexplained accidents, and Kolchak quickly suspects something supernatural. But this isn’t your standard ghost story. What sets this one apart is its odd concept: a ghostly twin, born out of a near-death experience, who appears whenever the conductor falls asleep, a sleeping phantom trying to take his place in the world.

Director Don Weis uses shadows, flickering lights, and slow zooms to heighten the tension. Also, he makes the Chicago nights look especially moody here. Darren McGavin’s performance is typically sharp; his Kolchak is funny yet genuinely frightened. He balances humor with desperation as he realizes he’s chasing something that can’t be photographed or fought. The episode also benefits from a solid supporting cast, including Fred Beir as Bond and Madlyn Rhue as his wife.

It stands out more than the Alien episode because it dives heavily into psychological horror rather than pure monster-of-the-week thrills. It’s about the fear of losing yourself and being replaced by something that looks like you but isn’t. For a 1970s network TV show, that’s surprisingly territory. While it doesn’t have the flashy monster effects of “The Werewolf” or “The Zombie,” it lingers in your mind long after it’s over.

The COMPLETE EPISODE

Hollyood Fats Band – The Hollywood Fats Band …album review

This guy was mentioned in the comments last week (he was playing guitar with the Blasters in a video I posted), and I was listening. A blues band that swung like they were on a chandelier… what an incredible band this was. When I write posts, sometimes I think of the readers who would like them. Christian is the one I’m thinking of here…I’m not a blues aficionado, but when I hear something great, no matter what it is…I play it. Rarely would I review a blues album, but this one is certainly worth it. His guitar playing took me by surprise.

I loved how they recorded this. The band recorded the album in Los Angeles, using vintage tube gear, ribbon microphones, and a minimalist mic setup to capture the warmth and air of those old 1950s records. They wanted it raw, live, and most importantly, human. No overdubs, no studio tricks, just five musicians facing each other and playing to each other.

If you were hanging around the Los Angeles blues scene in the mid-1970s, you might’ve seen a big fedora-wearing guitar phenom named Michael “Hollywood Fats” Mann. For a few short years, he led a group that reminded the world that the West Coast had some great blues. The band had a deep Chicago and Texas blues sound. The Hollywood Fats Band didn’t last long, but they left their mark.

Michael Mann was just out of his teens when he was already playing alongside blues legends. He was born in Los Angeles in 1954. He sat in with the likes of Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Albert King when they hit town. He had a tone straight out of Chess Records. By the time he met harmonica player Al Blake and pianist Fred Kaplan in the mid-1970s, the idea of forming a blues revival band that really sounded like the old days began to take shape.

The lineup was a dream team for blues purists: Hollywood Fats on guitar, Al Blake on harp and vocals, Fred Kaplan on piano, Larry Taylor (formerly of Canned Heat) on upright bass, and Richard Innes on drums. They were in the middle of the disco era, but they stuck stubbornly to jump blues, and it swung. The chemistry was electric. Fats’ guitar lines just rip off those recordings I’ve been listening to, and the entire band was just fantastic.

Their lone studio album, The Hollywood Fats Band (recorded in 1979 and released in 1980), sounded like it had been transported from a Chess Records session with better fidelity. Sadly, it didn’t end well. Hollywood Fats struggled with addiction, and just as his reputation was spreading beyond the clubs of L.A., he died in 1986 at only 32. The band members carried on, but it was never the same.

There is not much film on the guy…this is not a great quality video, but you take what you can.

…

Joe South – Walk A Mile In My Shoes

When I hear this song, I think of Joe South delivering a Sunday sermon on Southern philosophy. It was on the AM radio growing up, and I remember it well. This one and Games People Play were the two South songs I heard the most.

This song is a little bit of everything with pop, gospel, country, and soul. Before his solo success, South had already built a reputation that most session players would love to have. He played guitar on Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools, wrote Billy Joe Royal’s Down in the Boondocks, and later wrote his own solo hit, Games People Play, which was a Grammy-winning anthem of its own. Joe South was Georgia guy who would write songs that people could relate to. His records were smart, soulful, and unafraid to say something.

Elvis Presley covered this song during his 1970 That’s the Way It Is concerts, giving it his full Vegas-gospel jumpsuit treatment, which helped carry Joe’s song to the mainstream. Everyone from Coldcut to Bryan Ferry to Otis Clay would later cover it, but none quite captured that mix of frustration and hope that Joe did on the original.

Joe South doesn’t get enough credit in the conversation about 60s/70s singer-songwriters. He wasn’t flashy, but was saying something worth hearing. The song peaked at #12 on the Billboard 100, #10 in Canada, #11 on the Canada Country Charts, and #56 on the Billboard Country Charts in 1970.

Joe South is personal to me because of his connection to my family. He recorded some in my uncle’s studio. This is from 1964.

Walk A Mile In My Shoes

If I could be you, if you could be meFor just one hourIf we could find a wayTo get inside each other’s mind

If you could see you through my eyesInstead of your egoI believe you’d beSurprised to seeThat you’ve been blind

Walk a mile in my shoesWalk a mile in my shoesAnd before you abuse, criticize and accuseWalk a mile in my shoes

Now, your whole worldYou see around youIs just a reflectionAnd the law of KarmaSays you gonna reapJust what you sow, yes you will

So unless you’ve lived a lifeOf total perfectionYou better be careful of every stoneThat you should throw, yeah

And yet we spend the day throwing stonesAt one another‘Cause I don’t think or wear my hairThe same way you do

Well, I may be common peopleBut I’m your brotherAnd when you strike out and try to hurt meIt’s hurtin’ you, Lord have mercy

Walk a mile in my shoesWalk a mile in my shoesHey, before you abuse, criticize and accuseWalk a mile in my shoes

There are people on reservationsAnd out in the ghettosAnd brother, thereBut for the grace of GodGo you and I, yeah, yeah

And if I only had the wingsOf a little angel, yeahDon’t you know I’d flyTo the top of the mountainAnd then I’d cry, hey

Walk a mile in my shoesWalk a mile in my shoesHey, before you abuse, criticize and accuseBetter walk a mile in my shoes

Walk a mile in my shoesWalk a mile in my shoesOh, before you abuse, criticize and accuseWalk a mile in my shoes, yeah…

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Werewolf

November 01, 1974 Season 1 Episode 5

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

I’m loving going through these episodes. Like the X-Files, this show has a monster and humor. Sometimes serious and sometimes camp. There is something for everyone. With Star Trek and Twilight Zone, I tried to hide what the monster or whatever was, but with the titles to this series, not much cause for that.

This is one of the great atmospheric episodes in the series. This time, our ever-skeptical reporter Carl Kolchak (played with perfect disheveled energy by Darren McGavin) finds himself aboard a cruise ship bound for New York, covering what should have been a puff piece about fun on the high seas. Naturally, things go sideways when passengers start turning up brutally mauled, and the only clues are shredded clothing and what look like animal bites. Kolchak’s sense for the bizarre kicks in, and soon he suspects that a werewolf might be loose on the ship, a premise that turns an already claustrophobic voyage into pure nightmare.

The episode cleverly uses its limited setting to heighten suspense. The cruise ship’s narrow hallways and locked cabins create a sense of entrapment — there’s nowhere to run when the full moon rises. The story also dips into old-school monster-movie tradition: silver bullets, cursed bites, and the doomed man who becomes the beast. The makeup effects, while modest by today’s standards, deliver a creepy punch, a classic, snarling wolf-man straight out of a Universal horror movie. Kolchak, armed only with his typewriter wit and some makeshift silver, must find a way to stop the creature before the ship reaches port.

This episode is a good example of the show’s formula: horror meets journalism, with humor and cynicism woven through. The episode’s director, Allen Baron, keeps the pacing tight, and the contrast between McGavin’s wisecracking performance and the grim killings maintains that strange Kolchak balance between camp and dread. It also helped solidify the series’s reputation for finding horror in everyday or unexpected places, in this case, a pleasure cruise turned into a deathtrap.

This episode feels like a monster-of-the-week done with a touch of humor and melancholy. This one has the feel of a late-night drive-in flick, half spooky and half funny, and it remains a fan favorite…per IMDB. Two standout guest stars were Nita Talbot as Kolchak’s cohort, Paula Griffin. She was no one’s fool and quite a match for Kolchak. Also, Eric Braeden as Bernhardt Stieglitz who plays the title role of the show.

The FULL EPISODE! The reason I don’t embed the video is that Dailymotion just keeps playing every time you pull up my site. It gets on your nerves and mine as well.

J.J. Cale – Crazy Mama

The thing that I’ve found about Cale is that his music isn’t in your face. It really sneaks up on you while you listen. I remember this getting played on AM radio when I was a kid, and this song introduced me to J.J. Cale. Yes I may have heard some of his songs that were covered by others, but I knew this by Cale and no one else.

Oklahoma blues guitarist and songwriter J.J. Cale is best known for a number of songs that became radio favorites when covered by other artists. These include both After Midnight and Cocaine, which were written and recorded by Cale before Eric Clapton cut his versions. Also, Cale’s track Call Me The Breeze has been covered by numerous acts, most notably by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The record feels loose, almost casual, like you just stumbled across him jamming in a Tulsa roadhouse. Yet the track is locked in tight, every note exactly where it needs to be. Musicians took notice; countless guitarists, from Mark Knopfler to Neil Young, would later cite Cale’s minimalism as an influence.

He made this hit song without raising his voice or speeding up this song. Remember this was the era of bombast, arena rock, prog, and wall-to-wall sound. Cale proved that restraint could be just as powerful. It’s no surprise that Clapton and others gravitated to his songs; Cale had a way of making music that felt timeless and genuine. This song may have been his only chart hit, but it wasn’t his only masterpiece.

Crazy Mama is a song from Cale’s debut album, Naturally, and was his only Top 40 hit in the US. Naturally peaked at #51

This song peaked at #22 on the Billboard 100 in 1971.

Crazy Mama

Crazy mama, where you been so long?
Crazy mama, where you been so long?
You’ve been hiding out, I know that’s true
Crazy mama, I sure need you
Crazy mama, where you been so long?

Standing on the corner, looking for you, babe
Standing on the corner, looking for you, babe
Lord have mercy, can I see,
that crazy mama coming back to me?
Crazy mama, where you been so long?

Big Star – Third/Sister Lovers …album review

This was written for Dave’s Tuntable Series. The topic is Going out on a High Note. We all have seen artists who stick around long after they should have exited gracefully. For this round, pick a musical artist who you think ended their career on a high note, a great final album, or a triumphant concert tour before they grew stale.

I could have picked The Beatles, probably one of the best examples of going out on top with Abbey Road, but as usual, I wanted to go down the path less travelled. I wanted to feature Big Star’s last album, recorded in 1974. Parts of the band did release an album in 2005 under the Big Star name, but I’m not counting that one. This album was on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums list at #285.

If there’s an album that feels like the final curtain was lowered, it’s Big Star’s Third/Sister Lovers album. Recorded in late 1974, it dribbled out years later in different forms; the record doesn’t just mark the end of Big Star, it feels like the end of Alex Chilton’s patience with power pop itself. This album had test pressings in 1975, but didn’t get officially released until 1978

Unlike #1 Record and Radio City, which had power-pop perfection, Third/Sister Lovers is messy and sometimes unsettling. It sounds less like a polished album and more like a band trying everything while the tape keeps rolling. Jim Dickinson’s production at Ardent Studios only added to the loose, haunted feel, he let Chilton and whoever else showed up throw down takes that feel unfinished and unfiltered.

Songs like Kizza Me, Jesus Christ, and Thank You Friends have some of Big Star’s old jangle, but the edges are jagged. Then you get Holocaust and Kanga Roo, two of the most desolate tracks they ever did. Holocaust is not something you hum; it’s something that stays with you afterward.

Part of the mythology of this album is that no one really knows the “real” tracklist. Different labels sequenced it differently when it trickled out in the late 70s and early 80s. By the time Rykodisc issued it on CD in the 90s and Omnivore Recordings gave us the expanded Complete Third box, it was clear… this wasn’t one neatly tidy album, it was choppy, uneven, and brilliant.

For all its chaos, this album became a blueprint for generations of indie and alternative bands. You hear its fingerprints in REM., Replacements, and Wilco, artists who weren’t afraid to experiment with pop and let it stand on its own. For a band that never could catch a break, Big Star ended with an album that was seldom properly released, yet somehow became arguably their most influential. That’s Big Star in a nutshell: tragedy, beauty, and magic all together.

Thank You Friends

Thank you, friendsWouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for youI’m so grateful for all the things you helped me do.

All the ladies and gentlemenWho made this all so probable

Thank you, friendsI rejoice to the skiesDear ones like you do the best I doAs far as can see my eyes

All the ladies and gentlemenWho made this all so probable

Without my friends I got chaosI’m often a bead of light.Without my friends I’d be swept up high by the wind

do, do…

All the ladies and gentlemen (I said all)All the ladies and gentlemen (I said all)All the ladies and gentlemenWho made this all so probable

Thank you friends (thank you again)Thank you friends (thank you again)Dear, dear friends (thank you again)Thank you friends (thank you again)And again, and again…Never too late to start

…

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The Vampire

October 04, 1974 Season 1 Episode 4

If you want to see where we are…HERE is a list of the episodes.

This show acted as a direct sequel to the original TV movie The Night Stalker. It’s a really good episode! This story has Kolchak chasing down Janos Skorzeny’s (the original vampire in the movie) “offspring,” a female vampire who rises in Los Angeles after a series of mysterious murders. Where the original movie thrived on Darren McGavin’s tense battles with a powerful vampire in Las Vegas, this time Kolchak is once again the only man connecting the dots as bodies begin piling up with familiar fang marks and drained blood.

We can always rely on Carl Kolchak to stubbornly pursue the strange stories even when under orders to pursue something decidedly more mundane. Carl is sent to Los Angeles to interview a young guru and instead becomes intrigued by a series of killings involving the draining of blood, first told to him by an old acquaintance named “Swede” (guest star Larry Storch). Kolchak is once again quick to jump to the most extravagant conclusion, and of course, he’s right: the culprit is a sexy female vampire unearthed from her slumber by a highway crew outside Las Vegas.

The climax is classic Kolchak. Armed with a cross, hammer, and stake, he hunts the vampire into her lair beneath the city. The episode builds tension with along the way with lighting, camera work, and McGavin’s energy as he fends off a supernatural predator. Unlike many horror shows of the era that shied away from violence, Kolchak goes into the dread of facing a creature of legend. The confrontation with the vampire feels unsettling, reminding viewers that Kolchak isn’t a superhero; he’s just a reporter willing to risk his life for the truth.

Watching McGavin shuffle around Los Angeles in his seersucker suit, trying to convince hardened cops that a vampire is on the loose, is both hilarious and chilling. For me, this one stands out because it proves Kolchak never gets an easy win, and he doesn’t even get peace of mind. But what he does get is the truth, and he’ll drive a stake through anything, or anyone, that tries to bury it.

The change of setting also works well for the episode, allowing Kolchak to comment on the nature of L.A. and demonstrating some ingenuity in the end when it comes to dispatching his unearthly foe; there’s some good imagery there.

Here is the COMPLETE EPISODE!

…

Doug Sahm – Groover’s Paradise

A groove you can drive a truck through
wider than a Texas mile

I’ve been waiting until I could start listening to the former lead singer of the Sir Douglas Quintet. The time has arrived, and I knew it would be some quality music, and I’ve enjoyed dipping my toe in the Doug Sahm waters. I’d heard his music from the ’60s and ’90s, but didn’t know much about the 1970s; it didn’t disappoint.

Texan Doug Sahm was an exceptional talent. By the time most kids were still figuring out how to play Little League, Sahm was already on stage. At age 11, he played steel guitar at the Skyline Club in Austin, sharing the bill with Hank Williams on what was one of Hank’s final performances on December 19, 1952.

Why choose one genre when you can play ‘em all? He could play country, blues, Tex-Mex, rock ‘n’ roll, R&B, and anything else that came his way. He was one of those musicians who seemed to be a walking jukebox.

This song is very country-rock and has a San Francisco hippie feel to it. He was basically Americana before Americana was a popular word. He didn’t chase trends at all; he did what made him happy, and that is why his music sounds so genuine. He hung out in San Francisco for a while in the early seventies. Among his friends were Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Willie Nelson, and the Grateful Dead. But he always went back to Texas.

This song is the title track from his 1974 album. It was produced by none other than Doug Clifford and Stu Cook of Creedence Clearwater Revival; the album has a loose, laid-back feel, and Clifford played drums. This song is a tribute to Austin, celebrating the unique blend of hippies, cowboys, and soul that defined the city in the mid-1970s.

For me, he was like a bridge between genres and generations. He could play an accordion song, a honky-tonk ballad, then rip into a garage rock, all in the same set.

Here is one of his sons, Shandon Sahm, playing this song.

An entire concert, but I have it starting on Groover’s Paradise.

Groover’s Paradise

Go out on the highway
I thumbed myself a ride
Too long in New York City
My mind is taking a ride

I want to go back to Texas
Cosmic cowgirls playin’
I want to have some fun
in a good ole Texas way
Down in Groover’s Paradise
Groover’s Paradise, Groover’s Paradise

Told you one or two times
Ain’t gonna tell you no more
Too long in Detroit city
I can’t hardly breathe no more

I need a whole lot of cold Pearl beer
and a little Texas smile
A groove you can drive a truck through
wider than a Texas mile
Down in Groover’s Paradise
Groover’s Paradise, Groover’s Paradise

Groover’s Paradise!

Well the guacamole queen is there
Man she’ll really curl your hair
Enchiladas and Bar B Que
Come on baby what you gonna do?

Come on over here beside me
Tell me how you’ve been
When I get done layin’ it on you
Then you’ll know I am back again
Back in Groover’s Paradise
Groover’s Paradise, Groover’s Paradise

Fleetwood Mac – Kiln House …album review

When most folks hear the words Fleetwood Mac, they immediately think of the Rumours-era band. But rewind just a few years earlier and you’ll find a very different band, one still rooted in the blues, still searching for direction after the departure of founding guitarist Peter Green. Starting that transitional phase is the album Kiln House.

Fleetwood Mac was changing throughout the decade, but 1970s Kiln House was one of their strangest detours. After Peter Green’s sudden exit, the band found itself leaderless. Instead of breaking up, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan took the lead and led the band through a melodic 1950s-inspired sound with that glorious echo. The entire album isn’t that, but it’s a heavy influence.

This is one of the most interesting bands ever. You can find a song in one of their many eras to satisfy anyone. This album was a departure from the Peter Green era. It didn’t have the intensity that Green brought, but it made up for it in some great songs. It was highly melodic with some complicated melodies, like Station Man (written by Danny Kirwan, Spencer, and John McVie); the later incarnation picked up on that song as well. The first song of this period I took notice of a few years ago was Jewel Eyed Judy from this album.

Jeremy Spencer adored that 1950s rock style, and This Is the Rock is one of his tributes to that era. Another obvious one is the song Buddy’s Song. They also had some nice straight-out rock on the album with Kirwan’s Tell Me All the Things You Do.

This album ties the eras together for me. You had straight out rock, a touch of blues, rockabilly, country, and some pop that foreshadowed what was to come. It is probably the most varied Fleetwood Mac album I’ve listened to. You can hear Fleetwood Mac going toward something new.

The album peaked at #69 on the Billboard Album Charts, #67 in Canada, and #39 in the UK. Christine McVie not only drew the cover, she also contributed to the album with backup vocals, keyboards, and even cover art. After this album, she became a full member.

This Is The Rock

This is the rockWe’ve been talking about (this is the rock)Yeah, this is the rockMakes you jump and shout (this is the rock)This is the rockThat knocks you right out

It makes you loseAll your troubles and caresYou’ll lose your bluesThey ain’t going nowhereThis is the rockThat hits you right there

Well you can get back on the roofAnd shout it all aroundGet up off your seats is what I’m putting downGet ’em all a hoppin’ to that crazy beatGet ’em all a boppin’ and a tappin’ their feet

‘Cause it’s the rockMoves you all day long (it’s the rock)Yeah, it’s the rockGettin’ everyone (it’s the rock)This is the rockIt really turns you on, woo

‘Cause it’s the rock (it’s the rock)Moves you all day long (it’s the rock)Yeah, yeah it’s the rockGettin’ everyone (it’s the rock)This is the rockIt really turns you on

Yeah, this is the rockIt really turns you onThis is the rockIt really turns you on

Well this is the rock