My Seventies Music

The Alan Parsons Project – “The Raven”, “(The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether”, “I Robot”, “Breakdown”, “I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You”, “Some Other Time”, “Don’t Let It Show”, “Time”, “Eye In The Sky”

When I heard the name Alan Parsons mentioned today, in my mind I was in a student flat in about 1977 in Waldegrave Street, Palmerston North, New Zealand, listening to “The Raven” from the album “Tales Of Mystery And Imagination”, the first from The Alan Parsons Project.

The Alan Parsons Project was founded by its namesake Alan Parsons, a young engineer at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, and Eric Woolfson, who wrote most of the songs and sang on many of them. Woolfson died at the beginning of December last year (2009).

Alan Parsons first came to prominence engineering the Beatles album “Abbey Road”, and was also particularly well known for his work on Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side Of The Moon”, as well as many works by The Hollies.

He also played a major role in influencing the sound of Al Stewart’s “The Year Of The Cat” and “Time Passages”, which he also produced.

The Alan Parsons Project was really a fluid group of different musicians around these two main protagonists, and produced studio music in the genre some call progressive rock.

“Tales Of Mystery And Imagination”, released in 1976, was a tribute to horror writer Edgar Allen Poe. Here are two tracks from it:

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Tags: (The System Of) Doctor Tarr And Professor Fether, Abbey Road, Abbey Road Studios, Al Stewart, Alan Parsons, Breakdown, Don't Let It Show, Eric Woolfson, Eye In The Sky, I Robot, I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You, Music of the Seventies, Pink Floyd, Seventies Rock Bands, Some Other Time, Tales Of Mystery And Imagination, The Alan Parsons Project, The Beatles, The Dark Side Of The Moon, The Hollies, The Raven, Time, Time Passages, Year Of The Cat

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Foreigner – “Cold As Ice”, “Double Vision”, “Head Games”, “Urgent”, “Waiting For A Girl Like You”, “Juke Box Hero” and “I Want To Know What Love Is”

One of the sounds I especially remember from the latter part of the Seventies was the British-American band Foreigner, with hits like “Cold As Ice”, “Double Vision” and “Head Games”.

These were soon followed in the early Eighties by more hits, such as “Urgent”, “Waiting For A Girl Like You”, “Juke Box Hero” and “I Want To Know What Love Is”.

Here’s “Cold As Ice”, from their first album, “Foreigner”:

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Tags: Cold As Ice, Double Vision", Foreigner, Head Games, I Want To Know What Love Is, Juke Box Hero, Music of the Seventies, Seventies Rock Bands, Urgent, Waiting For A Girl Like You

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Jethro Tull – “Aqualung”, “Mother Goose”, “Wind Up” and “Locomotive Breath”

In my mind’s eye I connect a a couple of album covers with the year 1972. One of them is “Aqualung” from British band Jethro Tull. (It may or may not interest you to know that the original Jethro Tull invented the seed drill in 1701… a fact that has stuck in my mind ever since I first came across it…).

And these words:

“Do you still remember December’s foggy breeze, When the ice that clings onto your beard was screaming agony”

Here’s the title track “Aqualung” live:

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Tags: Jethro Tull - Aqualung, Locomotive Breath, Mother Goose, Music of the Seventies, Seventies Rock Bands, Wind Up

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Kansas – “Dust In The Wind” and “Carry On Wayward Son”

“Dust In The Wind” from Kansas features strongly in a short story I once wrote that takes place in a bar in (then West) Berlin, which in turn always reminds me of a Kate Bush song that begins with the line “You’ll find me in a Berlin bar in a corner, brooding” (“Saxophone Song” from her first album “The Kick Inside”.)

Last time I went back to that bar, some years ago, it had turned into a bright, slightly sterile pizzeria. No atmosphere and certainly no “Dust In The Wind” playing.

Anyway, back to “Dust In The Wind” itself.

This is the studio version accompanying what appears to be a privately made music “video” filmed on 8 mm film in 1977 and recently salvaged by the filmmaker’s son:

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Tags: Berlin, Carry On Wayward Son, Dust In The Wind, Flying Nun record label in New Zealand, Gidget, Guns 'n' Roses, Happy Days, Henry Winkler, Heroes, Kansas, Kate Bush, Music of the Seventies, Sally Field, Saxophone Song, Scorpions, Seventies Rock Bands, The Flying Nun

Posted in Seventies Soft Music 1 Comment

Carlos Santana – “Samba Pa Ti”

I could listen to Carlos Santana playing “Samba Pa Ti” for hours, and yet for years I didn’t even know what the song was called – I just knew that I loved it!

Actually I could listen to anyone playing it, as long as they played it well.

My main Seventies memory associated with this song, off the 1970 Santana album “Abraxas”, is the Awapuni Tavern in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

We used to go to all kinds of student functions there, but also just to hear whoever was playing. It was quite a way out of town, so you had to make an effort to go there.

Usually it was worth it…

So here it is, “Samba Pa Ti” by Santana, the original:

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Tags: Abraxas, Carlos Santana, Crescendo, Memory, Mexico, Music of the Seventies, Palmerston North New Zealand, Samba Pa Ti, Santana Abraxas, Santana Samba Pa Ti, Seventies, Seventies Rock Bands, Student Functions, Zagreb Croatia

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