Backstage Past

As I was growing up in the sixties, I tended to listen to "underground" music (read as "Not your average pop radio music"--FM radio was GREAT then, with new and daring DJ's willing to play their own record collections and tell you a bit about the bands--it was like visiting a friend in their home [or yours]). I bought LP's based on what these guys shared with me. I even bought LP's (for you youngsters, that is vinyl) without ever hearing the acts first. GASP! Unheard of! And yet I was seldom disappointed, because I had a nearly fool-proof system.

I knew that the average pop bands on the radio did not write their own music and lyrics, but had talented writers doing that for them. This gave jobs to the A&R men (artists and repertoire). Today it is different. Almost everyone thinks they can write something worth listening to. Few of them are right, but that is not the issue. Back in the day, my system was to check two things: (1) How long were the songs on the LP and (2) who wrote them. Yes, it was that simple. And lest you think me simple-minded for doing it that way, let me explain.

My reasoning went thus: If the songs were much more than the average 1 minute and 50 seconds to 2 and 1/2 minutes (yes, formula songs were that long--and you thought the MTV generation were the only ones with short attention spans), then I took them as being possibly a bit more inventive--had to be, if they were to keep from being boring and repetitive. Then I checked to see if the guys in the band had actually had a hand in writing the songs they performed. If so, they likely had put some heart and thought into the work. What I got were LP's with songs of 4-1/2 minutes up to 17 minutes (remember Iron Butterfly's Inna Gadda Da Vida?) This was in the day before Fleetwood Mac were known by any but a privileged few that knew how great they were (ahhhh....Peter Green....) and Pink Floyd and Mountain were concert venue only--no radio play.

As I said, I was seldom disappointed in my purchases at that time. That was in a day when the bands were not Xerox copies of other bands ("...sounds like....who sounds like...who sound even more like...."). Bands like Ultimate Spinach, Blue Cheer, Clear Light, Small Faces and others were wonders to Behold and See. Humble Pie, Gypsy (fabulous and polished in their melodic guitar and vocal work), Fevertree, The Flock (still love Dinosaur Swamps LP), the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, Uriah Heep and Jethro Tull, Cold Blood, Free, Yes, Kansas, Genesis, Traffic, Air and others knew what uniqueness and being faithful to their own sound was like. They never sold their dignity for money, but still managed to sell out to large crowds. Many went on to become legends and many morphed into the pop bands they despised back then. The Beatles are still music pioneers, heros and geniuses, no matter what you may think of them. Black Sabbath's first LP was unlike anything we had ever heard--they created a whole new genre of rock.

Some of my all-time faves at the time were Glass Harp (with phenomenal guitar virtuoso Phil Keaggy--named by Jimi Hendrix (another obvious fave) to be the greatest guitarist in the world), the James Gang (Joe Walsh in his more serious and productive years) and Ethos, from Ft. Wayne, IN. I liked Ethos better in concert than on their LP's. The studio robbed them of the excitement they bore live. I learned to record live concerts by following them with my equipment. I wanted to play guitar like Will Sharpe did. I loved another local band called Hun and never got to see them more than once in a battle of the bands where the stuffed-shirt judges should have awarded the winning position to them (I played against them in that contest, so I know what I am saying). Another fave was a local Indiana band called Crazed Pork. They did a lot of Blood Rock covers. I loved Blood Rock and these guys had it down to the vocals as well! Monkey Butter (I didn't make that up) did a lot of Grand Funk covers very well (not your pop radio Grand Funk, either). Grand Funk in concert was amazing!

Am I sad for the youngsters who are missing so much with all the copy machine CD crap that is being sold to them as music today? Well, there is a LOT of crap music out there, but I have to admit that there are a lot of good acts, as well; but their recordings are over-produced, over-processed and over-compressed (I am an audio engineer and many of the best in the business say this, as well--it happens because producers demand it, not the consumers). And with the advent of earbuds and MP3's, the kids today have no idea what good fidelity sounds like and what dynamic range is. I will take old-fashioned vinyl over standard CD's any day of the week. Now, SACD's (super audio compact disc) are a different story. These recordings would leave kids with their mouths open in amazement. Even our 20%-deaf high school kids (a real statistic) would notice a huge difference. Get an SACD of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (still in the top 100 best sellers today--a credit to their skills and the engineering of their studio). Listen to this in 5.1 surround and tell me you still want to pay the exact same amount for a lousy 16 bit disc sampled at 44.1 Khz. You are being robbed! You will gladly pay the measly $100 needed to buy the SACD player and listen to such music again and again. And your demand will change an industry! Your ears will be delighted and thank you profusely for your act of courage and wisdom.

And while you are at it, try some old vinyl--perhaps a taste of "The World's Smallest Orchestra" (A.K.A. The Moody Blues). And, while we are in the color mode, try some Blues Magoos for an intimate lesson in psychedelic history. Have fun and happy listening.