Your Sister’s (Record) Rack: Singles, Part 2

More singles from the back of my sister’s closet: they’re almost as good as albums!

First up, an all-but forgotten band from the late 1960s-early 1970s era: Seatrain.  Formed from the ashes of the ill-fated Blues Project by two of that band’s former members, bassist Andy Kulberg and drummer Roy Blumenfeld, Seatrain hit its stride with a self-titled album in 1970.  By this second album, there had already been a shift in the lineup – it now included folkie guitarist/singer Peter Rowan.  Anyway, the big hit single was “13 Questions,” which just missed making into the U.S. Top 40.  I remember FM radio used to play Seatrain’s wild version of “Orange Blossom Special,” from the same LP – the band finally broke up in 1973 after its third album.

MP3: “13 Questions” by Seatrain

The band McGuinness Flint was a British counterpart to Seatrain; it was also made up of former members of hit-making bands.  Tom McGuiness played with Manfred Mann, and Hughie Flint played with John Mayall, and their namesake band included songwriters Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle.  And they had a minor U.S. hit with “When I’m Dead And Gone” (although it was big in the U.K.) but subsequent efforts stiffed.  Gallagher & Lyle quit to record as a duo  – in addition to writing “When I’m Dead And Gone,” they later wrote hits for Art Garfunkel, Don Williams and others.

MP3: “When I’m Dead And Gone” by McGuinness Flint

Here’s another band with a similar trajectory: King Harvest, which had its beginnings when four Americans joined forces in Paris, where they happened to be living at the time.  At one point the band had three keyboard players, including Sherman Kelly, who wrote the song “Dancing In The Moonlight.”  It was released as a single in Paris and it failed – but in 1973, the group re-formed in the United States and signed to a new record label.  The label re-released “Dancing” and it became a hit, climbing into the Top 20.  The group could never match this success and after disbanding some of King Harvest’s members including keyboardist Ron Altbach, sax player Rod Novak and guitarist Ed Tuleja toured with the Beach Boys and Mike Love’s Celebration.

MP3: “Dancing In The Moonlight” by King Harvest

Your Sister’s (Record) Rack: Delaney & Bonnie & Friends

Today we have a great album to share:  D&B Together, from Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.  The husband-and-wife team of Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett put out some great records in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  They started out on Stax Records, and you can get an idea of what these two funky white folks had to sound like to record for the likes of Stax (home to Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, etc.).

Delaney Bramlett is one of the great rock bandleaders, perhaps underrated today but certainly not when he was in his prime.  Bramlett not only had his fiercely soulful singin’ wife, but he recruited some of the greatest musicians to play backup on those Delaney & Bonnie albums.  D&B Together, from 1972, is the duo’s sixth album and man, they don’t cut records like this any more.

First, the band: Delaney, on guitar and vocals; Bonnie, vocals; drums, Jim Gordon (Derek & the Dominos); bass, Kenny Gradney (Little Feat); keyboards, Billy Preston!; keyboards and vocals, Leon Friggin’ Russell!; more bass, Carl Radle (Derek & the Dominos); more drums, Jaimoe (Allman Brothers); more keyboards, Bobby Whitlock (Derek & the Dominos); and even more bass, James Jamerson (Motown)!  Now the guitar players – Eric Clapton, Steve “The Colonel” Cropper, Dave Mason and Duane Friggin’ Allman!  Nice, eh?

The album kicks off with Mason’s “Only You Know and I Know,” which was a hit for Delaney & Bonnie.  Led by Bonnie’s soulful vocals (with backing vocals – oh I forgot those – by Merry Clayton, Rita Coolidge, Clydie King, Tina Turner and Eddie Kendricks, among others) the song establishes the easy rockin’ and intoxicating mash of soul, rock, blues and country that seemed to be so easy and unforced back in the early 1970s.  “Wade In The River of Jordan” could have been a tambourine-shaker from any white or black country church, and Delaney’s “Well Well” is another tasty slab of rockin’ soul.

Sampler Daze: Let’s Hear It For The Women!

Bonnie Raitt

It occurred to me, while compiling this exhaustive survey of the Warner Bros./Reprise Loss Leaders series, that we might be giving short shrift to the label’s female artists.  Probably not, but this is a good excuse to listen to some more tracks from this great promotional series.

I know we’ve mentioned Bonnie Raitt and Maria Muldaur – but we should start with them anyway because they’re the two ladies that the Loss Leaders went to the most often.  Part of our Loss Leaders All-Star team, Muldaur appeared nine times in the series and Raitt eight.  Another Reprise artist (with six appearances in the series) is Joni Mitchell, the Canadian darling of the hippie set and writer of the song “Woodstock,” most famously covered by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Emmylou Harris, with five appearances in the Loss Leaders series, is another perennial.  Harris was actually discovered by then-Flying Burrito Brother (and ex-Byrd) Chris Hillman, who was so taken with her voice that he considered asking Harris to join the Burritos.  But he recommended her instead to fellow Burrito Gram Parsons, who was seeking a backing vocalist for his first solo album.  Working with Parsons, Emmylou learned a lot about country music and its deep tradition and history.  When Parsons suddenly died in 1973, Emmylou was left without a mentor (and possibly a lover – nobody knows for sure).  She began recording for Reprise in 1975 and went on to become a top country-rock performer.  Here she is represented by “Ooh Las Vegas,” written by Gram Parsons.

Delaney Bramlett, R.I.P.

Delaney Bramlett, who put together one of the best bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, has died at the age of 69.  Teamed with his wife Bonnie, Bramlett assembled a Southern-rock outfit that included the likes of Eric Clapton, Duane Allman and Leon Russell.  Some of the other players – including Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon and Carl Radle – would go on to play on other blockbuster albums of the 1970s, like George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and of course, Clapton’s Layla.

Some of the wire stories about Bramlett’s death mistakenly attribute him as the co-writer of such Clapton hits as “Let It Rain” but it was really wife Bonnie who was the writer on those songs.  He did co-write songs for Clapton’s eponymous solo debut album, in 1970.  Anyway, Delaney Bramlett – a rock and roll classic.

MP3: “They Call It Rock and Roll Music” (from To Bonnie, From Delaney, 1970)

MP3: “Soul Shake” (1970)

MP3: “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” (from Motel Shot, 1971)

MP3: “Never Ending Song Of Love” (1971)

MP3: “Groupie (Superstar)” (1970)

MP3: “Bottle Of Red Wine” (from Eric Clapton, 1970)