Traffic – "The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys" (1971)

If I gave you everything that I owned 

And asked for nothing in return

Would you do the same for me?

[NOTE: I published the following post about the longest of this year’s class of inductees into 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME on June 1, 2018.  Actor Michael J. Pollard, who coined the song’s title, died the next year.]

*     *     *     *     *

The two most notable things about Traffic’s fifth studio album, The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys, are its title track – which is eleven minutes and 35 seconds long – and its cover, which is a two-dimensional hexagon that looks like a three-dimensional cube:

There are very few rock songs that are more than ten minutes long.  Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” (17:05) is probably the most famous.  The Doors’ “The End” (11:41), Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” (11:07), and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s cover of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (11:05) are three other well-known ten-minute-plus songs that got a fair amount of play on album-oriented rock stations back in the seventies.

“The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” doesn’t feel eleven minutes long.  It has long instrumental passages, but they aren’t pointless or repetitive.  The song’s tempo is leisurely, and the verses are longer than the verses of most rock songs.  It’s naturally long, not artificially long – like ultra-long rock tracks that feature unimaginative instrumental solos or jams that drag on forever and ever.

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys was released late in 1971, when I was a sophomore in college.  I probably bought it the next year, after hearing the title track on the radio a few times.  

John Barleycorn Must Die, the previous Traffic album, was better – but “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” holds up very well.

In case you’re wondering, the song’s title is taken from a phrase that actor Michael J. Pollard coined when he and Traffic’s co-founder and drummer, Jim Capaldi, were in Morocco working on a proposed movie that was never filmed.  

Pollard was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Bonnie and Clyde, but lost out to Cool Hand Luke’s George Kennedy.  (All five of the featured actors in Bonnie and Clyde – Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman, Estelle Parsons, and Pollard – were nominated for Oscars.  Only Parsons went home with a statuette.)

Pollard, Dunaway, Beatty, Parsons, and Hackman

Click here to hear “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys.”

Click on the link below to buy the album from Amazon.  (Amazon doesn’t sell just the song.  Apparently they think $1.29 isn’t enough for an 11:35 song, so they make you buy the whole album if you want it.)

Leon Russell – "Delta Lady" (1970)

Woman of the country, now I've found you

Longing in your soft and fertile delta

The night before Thanksgiving, an old friend and I went to see Leon Russell – who was born Claude Russell Bridges on April 2, 1942 – perform at a small concert venue in suburban Virginia.  

I have mixed feelings about the experience.  

On the one hand, I'm really glad I finally saw him play live.  (Neither of us is getting any younger, after all.)  I've always had a particular interest in him because he was primarily a piano player, he was from Tulsa (very near where I grew up), and a lot of friends of mine were (and are) big fans of his.  

Leon Russell then (circa 1970)

On the other hand, Leon is 68 and I'm afraid he looks every day of that.  He does not get around very well.  (One of those electric mobility scooters was parked next to his tour bus when we left the concert.)  His hair is as white as white can be.  

Leon Russell now (November 2010)

*     *     *     *     *

It usually depresses me to see old rock bands flogging the same "classic" songs, 40 years after they were relevant.  I love and respect the Who, but I thought their performance at the last SuperBowl halftime was pathetic.  (Maybe Keith Moon was lucky to die before he got old.)  

Can you imagine Jimi Hendrix, age 65, doing "Purple Haze" at a SuperBowl halftime show?  No?  Wouldn't you have thought the same thing about Pete Townsend or Keith Richards?

I recently read a New Yorker review of Keith's new autobiography.  Here's a quote from it:

Keith Richards is 66.  He's a grandfather . . . Where he used to have a wolfhound named Syphilis, he now has a golden Lab named Pumpkin.  He and his wife pack Pumpkin onto a private jet and go to relax at their spread in Turks and Caicos. . . . "People think I'm still a goddamn junkie.  It's 30 years since I gave up the dope!  Image is like a long shadow.  Even when the sun goes down, you can see it."

*     *     *     *     *

The Leon Russell performance my friend and I saw had its moments, but I can't say that the show really ever caught fire.  There wasn't a lot of imagination or passion on display.  

Leon Russell and his current band

When I went to YouTube to look for videos to embed in this post, I found some that seemed to indicate that Leon was basically doing the same songs in his live appearances three years ago.  

For example, the show I saw opened with a medley of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Papa Was a Rolling Stone," "Paint It Black," and "Kansas City."  Click here to see a video from a 2007 concert showing Leon performing the exact same medley in exactly the same manner.

*     *     *     *     *

What can you realistically expect from a performance by a 68-year-old at a converted suburban movie theatre holding maybe 700 baby boomers?  The Beatles at Shea Stadium?  Woodstock?  Of course not.  After all, when you go to a baseball game, you rarely see your favorite player win the game with a walk-off home run – but that  doesn't keep you from hoping for it.

Perhaps I should look at things from a more positive angle.  George Orwell once said that if you can choose the manner of your own death, let it be in hot blood – not in bed.  

Russell isn't going gently into that good night.  He's out on the road, criss-crossing the country in a tour bus, playing some really great songs . . .and a lot of them are his songs.  Good for you, Leon – even if you do need an electric mobility scooter to get around with.

*     *     *     *     *

The song featured in this post – "Delta Lady" – is one of Russell's most well-known compositions.  The inspiration for the song was Rita Coolidge, a backup singer who became a solo star.  

Rita was a bit of a femme fatale.  She was romantically involved with both Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, and her leaving Stills for Nash may have contributed to CSN&Y's initial breakup.  (David Crosby's song "Cowboy Song" and Stephen Stills's song "Sit Yourself Down" both refer to her by her nickname, Raven.)

Rita and Kris

She met Kris Kristofferson during the filming of the Sam Peckinpah movie, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (which also featured Bob Dylan).  The two later married.

*     *     *     *     *

Click here to see a very interesting video of Leon performing "Delta Lady" in 1970. – 

I'm not sure what the context of this video was – there are some things going on in the background that make no sense to me, and the ending is very strange, too.  (Anyone out there have a clue what this performance was for?)  

It begins with a couple of false starts, but then Leon and the other musicians hit their stride.

I've never seen Russell put more into a live performance.  He absolutely chews the song up and spits it out. 

Legendary backup singers Claudia
Lennear and Kathi McDonald

But the real revelation here is Kathi McDonald, a white female backup singer who is seen several times.  You first hear her making her presence known at 0:44 of the video (just as Leon is calling a stop to the first take).  You hear her again at about 1:25, 1:38, 2:16, and 3:24 -- each time she echoes the line that Leon has just sung.  Actually, "echo" is not a very good description of what she does.

She more or less turns herself inside out when she sings.  It sounds like she is experiencing childbirth au naturel each time she tears into a line.

*     *     *     *     

I had never heard of Kathi McDonald until I read the comments to this video, but she is sort of a big deal.  She started her career as a backup singer for Ike and Tina Turner – and no one ever topped Tina and the "Ikettes" as live performers.  

She replaced Janis Joplin when Janis left Big Brother and the Holding Company – when people told her she sounded like Janis, she used to respond by saying, "No, she sounds like me" –  and later was part of the Joe Cocker "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour.  (Here's a recent interview with Kathi.)

Kathi McDonald now

She also appeared on albums by Leon Russell, Delaney and Bonnie, Rita Coolidge, Nils Lofgren, Dave Mason, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Long John Baldry, and she was a backup singer on the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street.  

Click here to see Joe Cocker performing "Delta Lady" (with a little help from Leon and Kathi).     

Click here to listen the version of "Delta Lady" that appears on Leon's eponymous (there's my favorite word again!) solo album.  I'm pretty sure I hear Kathi McDonald at about 0:29 of the song.

Click here to buy that record from Amazon.

Steppenwolf – "Monster/Suicide/America" (1969)

'Cause the people grew fat and got lazy

Now their vote is a meaningless joke

[NOTE: Today, we’re reprinting a post from 2012.  At the time it was originally published, American troops had been stationed in Afghanistan for a very long time – over a decade, in fact.  Back then, no one would have predicted that U.S. forces would remain in Afghanistan for almost another decade, finally departing in 2021.  (I’m sure you remember what a debacle that was.)  In any event, today we’re inducting the record featured in that 2012 post – Steppenwolf’s “Monster/Suicide/America” – into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME.]

*     *     *     *     *

Only two weeks left in the 2012 campaign – we're getting down to the short strokes, boys and girls!

"Monster/Suicide/America" is from Steppenwolf's 1969 album of the same name.    The group's first three albums all made it into the top ten in the U.S., but Monster peaked at #17 and was the first Steppenwolf not to feature a top ten single.

The three-part title of the song reflects the fact that it consists of three somewhat disparate segments joined together.  But let's just refer to it as "Monster" – OK?

"Monster" is nine minutes, fifteen seconds long, and I remember hearing it on the radio a number of times the year it was released.  I'm pretty sure the station I heard it on was KWTO-560, an AM station in Springfield, Missouri, that played a lot of rock album tracks before that format had become popular.  (The other l-o-n-g song I remember hearing on KWTO was "Midnight Rambler" by the Rolling Stones.  KWTO was a great station.)

Songs with political themes were fairly common in 1969, and "Monster" is certainly a political song.  It  summarizes the entire history of the United States, warts and all – it decries witch-burning, slavery, the displacement of native Americans, the Civil War, and so on.  

But the song saves most of its bile for contemporary American society:

The cities have turned into jungles

And corruption is strangling the land

The police force is watching the people

And the people just can't understand

Not surprisingly, the song alludes to the Vietnam War:

We don't know how to mind our own business

'Cause the whole world's got to be just like us

Now we are fighting a war over there

No matter who's the winner we can't pay the cost

In 1969, we had no idea that American involvement in Vietnam would drag on for several more years.  It officially ended in May 1975 – not quite eleven years after the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

*     *     *     *     *

The war in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001 – so it has lasted longer than the war in Vietnam.  

The number of American troops in Afghanistan grew gradually under the Bush Administration.  There were roughly 34,000 soldiers in Afghanistan when President Obama was inaugurated.  Obama ordered 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan as part of a planned "surge" in troop levels within weeks of his swearing-in.  

There were 71,000 American soldiers there at the beginning of 2010, and almost 100,000 there at the beginning of 2011.  The gradual withdrawal of those troops began late in 2011.

American troops in Afghanistan

Joe Biden got a little confused a few weeks ago, telling a New Hampshire audience that there were 650,000 troops left in Afghanistan.  There are actually about 68,000 soldiers left in Afghanistan.  

President Obama has said that the drawdown of American forces will continue through 2014, but about 20,000 troops will stay in Afghanistan – perhaps for years to come.  (The week before the Democratic convention, Obama mistakenly said that "[w]e will have them all out of there by 2014," but his press secretary later said that "[h]e never said that all the troops would be out.")

When he originally announced the withdrawal plans in June 2011, the President declared that the U.S. had largely achieved its goals in Afghanistan.  But everything that I've read indicates that the Afghan government will likely lose control over more and more of the country to local warlords as the Americans leave.

Here's what Michael Cohen, a former Democratic speechwriter, had to say about how Obama would likely handle the Afghanistan issue during the rest of the campaign:

He will take credit for winding down the war, he will claim that the surge blunted the Taliban's momentum – which is partially true – and he'll argue that Afghanistan is on its way to security and stability – which is not really true, but isn't quite a lie either.  That things are falling apart and that the administration is making no effort to ensure that there is a viable political process after we withdraw combat troops – I'm guessing that won't come up.

I'm guessing that's a pretty good guess.

There's been almost no substantive discussion of Afghanistan in the campaign to date.  It's an unpopular war, and both candidates seem to prefer just to pretend that it doesn't exist.  

The third and final presidential debate – which took place last night – was supposed to focus on foreign policy, so perhaps there was some discussion of Afghanistan during it.

I have no idea, because I didn't watch a minute of that debate.  I'm a big baseball fan, and I was watching the World Series.

*     *     *     *     *

You say the World Series doesn't begin until tomorrow night?  OK, OK – I told a little white lie.  To tell the truth, I wouldn't have been watching the World Series even if it had been on last night. 

I was hoping for a St. Louis win so I could rant about a World Series matching the 5th-best team in the National League and the 7th-best team in the American League.

The Cardinals lost their division to the Reds by nine games – their regular-season record was much worse than any of the other NL playoff teams.  If they hadn't added a second wild-card team this year, the Cardinals would have been on the golf course a couple of weeks ago.

And the Tigers were even worse.  If the Tigers had been in either the AL East or the AL West, they wouldn't have finished first – or second – or even third.  They would have finished FOURTH.  Their only hope of sneaking into the playoffs this year was to win the AL Central.  That shouldn't have been much of a test, considering that the other teams in that division are the White Sox, the Twins, the Royals, and the Indians – whose cumulative won-loss record was 66 games below .500.

I vividly remember the 1968 Tigers-Cardinals World Series.  The Cardinals were led that year by their unhittable pitcher, Bob Gibson (who had 28 complete games, 13 shutouts, and a 1.12 regular-season ERA – all of which were truly mind-boggling accomplishments).  They had a 3-1 lead in the Series after Gibson shut out the Tigers (and hit a home run) in game four.

Bob Gibson and Lou Brock

But the Redbirds proceeded to lose three games in a row, including Gibson's start in game seven.  It was the third-most shocking baseball game I've ever seen.

*     *     *     *     *

Click here to listen to "Monster/Suicide/America."

Click here to buy the record from Amazon.

Allman Brothers Band – "Dreams" (1969)

’Cause I’m hung up

On dreams I’ll never see

At Fillmore East was the album that really put the Allman Brothers Band on the map.

The group’s first two studio LPs – The Allman Brothers Band and Idlewild East, respectively – didn’t sell well initially, but the band was killing it on stage.  So they decided a live double album would be just what the doctor ordered.

At Fillmore East – which was recorded at Bill Graham’s famous Lower East Side rock venue in March 1971 – took off almost immediately, and eventually went platinum.  Many people consider it one of the best live rock albums – if not the very best live rock album – of all time:

The At Fillmore East album

It would have been even better if it had included “Dreams,” which I’m inducting into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME today.  

It’s not clear why “Dreams” wasn’t on the Fillmore East setlist, but it’s wasn't – I think that was a mistake, but there’s no use crying over spilled milk.

*     *     *     *     *

While “Dreams” isn’t on At Fillmore East, a July 1970 recording of it is included on the Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival album, which wasn't released until 2003.

Some Allman Brothers fans like that album even better than At Fillmore East.  (I know – that’s blasphemy to many.)

One aficionado of the group had this to say about it on a fan forum: 

I think [the Atlanta album] is right up there, but I find it has a little more of a fun edge to it; maybe that is more because I know [At Fillmore East] so damn well, plus Fillmore can be a little sterile . . . . 

Another fan had this to say in that same forum:

No disrespect to [At Fillmore East] . . . but that one really does sound a little bit like sitting in church.  Maybe it's so quiet because everybody's jaw is dropped, but that's always been a problem for me.  I want a live record to make me feel like I'm someplace specific . . . and I love how the Atlanta recordings really put you there.

Click here to listen to the live Atlanta International Pop Festival recording of “Dreams.”

*     *     *     *     *

What made the Allman Brothers Band great?  Most people cite Gregg Allman’s voice and Duane Allman’s guitar as the keys.  But “Dreams” demonstrates how important Gregg’s Hammond B3 playing was to the group’s unique sound.

Click here to listen to the studio recording of “Dreams,” which was released in 1969 on the group’s eponymous debut album:

Click here to buy that recording from Amazon.

Beatles – "Back in the U.S.S.R." (1968)

 

Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out

Come and keep your comrade warm

The balalaika is a Russian stringed instrument with a characteristic triangular shape:

Balalaikas come in a variety of sizes.  The prima and second balalaikas are the most common, but there are also piccolo, alto, bass, and contrabass balalaikas.

There are balalaika orchestras consisting solely of different-sized instruments.  Such orchestras often play arrangements of classical compositions as well as folk songs.

A big-ass contrabass balalaika

Click here to listen to the Osipov State Russian Folk Orchestra, a renowned balalaika orchestra, performing “Waltz of a Faun” – which was composed by Vasily Andreyev, the creator of the modern balalaika.

*     *     *     *     *

The standard balalaika has only three strings.  Two of those strings are tuned to the same note, and the third string is tuned a perfect fourth higher.

When you’ve only got three strings to work with, why would you tune two of them to the same note?  

*     *     *     *     *

“Back in the U.S.S.R.” is the first track on The Beatles – which is usually referred to as “the white album.”

John, George, and Ringo were pretty sick of the bossy Paul by that time.  In fact, Ringo walked out on the group while they were working on “Back in the U.S.S.R.”  (Paul ended up playing drums on that track.)

Ringo and Paul

Most people think of “Back in the U.S.S.R.” as a parody of the Beach Boys’ hit, “California Girls.”  But the record alludes more directly to Chuck Berry’s “Back in the U.S.A.”

Click here to listen to the newest member of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE’ ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME, “Back in the U.S.S.R.”

 Click here to buy the record from Amazon.

Blood Sweat & Tears – "I Can't Quit Her" (1968)

In seconds flat 

I was proselytized

Al Kooper is rock music’s Renaissance man.  

When Kooper was 14, he was playing guitar for the band that recorded “Short Shorts,” and when he was 16, he co-wrote “This Diamond Ring” for Gary Lewis & the Playboys.  

Kooper has played on hundreds of records.  (He was the guy who played the organ on Bob Dylan’s "Like a Rolling Stone.”) 

He discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd, and produced their first three albums.  He produced the first Tubes album (which I’ve written about at length – it’s truly a work of genius).  

He was the musical director for the mid-1980s Michael Mann television series, “Crime Story” (which starred one of my favorite character actors, the late Dennis Farina).  

Al Kooper

But I think his greatest musical accomplishment was the first Blood, Sweat & Tears album, Child Is Father to the Man.  If you ask me, that album ranks right up there with Pet Sounds – which is high praise indeed.  

*     *     *     *     *

I have an old friend who admires Al Kooper’s music as much as I do, and he has a brother who is also a big Kooper fan.

Earlier this year, my friend’s brother – who, like Kooper, is Jewish – sent this e-mail to the musician:

Dear Al:

I am a 69-year-old fan who lives in the Boston area.  You are my favorite musician.  I’ve seen you a number of times over the years and you were always nice enough to sign books and albums.  You even once wrote, “To a fellow member of the tribe” on an album.

Hope you are in good health.  Do you gig anymore? Would love to see you!  In any case, know that you have brought me countless hours of joy!!!

Kooper sent my friend’s brother this reply:

I’m 79 – waaaaay too old and slow to gig – and I haven’t left the house in a few years (except for doctor visits).

In terms of performing: “It’s All Over Now.” 

Old Man Jew

*      *      *     *     *

“I Can’t Quit Her” was co-written by Kooper and Irwin Levine – who had been his writing partner on “This Diamond Ring.”  (Levine later wrote “Knock Three Times” and “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.”)

Click here to listen to “I Can’t Quit Her.”  Mamma mia, check out the arrangement on that record – it’s purt near perfect . . . which is why it’s been chosen for inclusion in the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME.  

Click here to buy the record from Amazon.

Kinks – "Dead End Street" (1966)

No money coming in

The rent collector’s knocking

Tryin’ to get in

[NOTE:  The main point of my original 2020 post about today’s featured record – which appears below this introductory note – is that the Kinks are a very underrated group.  That was true when I first wrote it, and it’s still true today.  One thing that distinguishes the Kinks from other bands is that so many of their songs are what might be called “kitchen sink” songs – that is, songs about working-class people and their everyday problems (most of which result from not having enough money).  “Dead End Street” is a quintessential Kinks kitchen-sink record, and that’s one reason why I’ve chosen to induct it into the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” ALBUM TRACKS HALL OF FAME.]

*     *     *     *     *

In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine assembled a panel of 55 musicians, critics, and industry executives and asked them to name the 100 most influential artists of the rock ’n’ roll era.  (The list was updated in 2011.)

Most of the recording artists that I will identify as “overrated” in this years “29 Posts in 29 Days” are on that list – some of them are near the top of that list.

Not surprisingly, most of the artists that I will identify as “underrated” aren’t on that list.  If the consensus is that you belong in the all-time top 100, it’s hard to make a strong case that you’re underrated.

Hard – but not impossible . . .

*     *     *     *     *

I don’t think there’s much doubt that if there were a Mount Rushmore of “British Invasion” bands, the four groups that most deserve to be on it are the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and the Kinks.

Rolling Stone ranks the Beatles as #1 on its “most influential list,” with the Rolling Stones at #4, the Who at #29, and Kinks at #65.

The Who should rank higher, and the Kinks should rank much higher.  They had their share of hit singles – “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night,” “Tired of Waiting for You,” and “Lola” all made the top ten in the U.S. – but few Americans paid much attention to their albums.

[NOTE: Can you believe that the Who had only one top ten single in the U.S. – “I Can See for Miles”?]

Virtually every album that the Beatles or Rolling Stones released in the second half of the sixties made it to#1 or #2 on the album charts, while the Kinks were lucky when one of their albums cracked the top 50.

In fact, most of their very best albums – albums like Something Else and Arthur – never even made it into the top 100.

Go figure.

*     *     *     *     *

Rolling Stone chose Peter Buck of R.E.M. to write a brief essay on the Kinks for its top 100 article.  I’m not a big fan of R.E.M., but Buck’s appreciation of the Kinks is excellent:

I’ve got pretty much every note the Kinks recorded on my iPod — certainly everything through 1980.  And it all sounds good.

The Kinks are the only major band from the sixties I can think of that didn’t go psychedelic, didn’t do any of that crap that all of the other big bands did at the time.  When everyone was writing song cycles about Eastern mysticism, Ray Davies was writing about a two-up/two-down flat in some English suburb.

Ray wrote songs about the things that were important to him.  He invented his world and gave it life.  And in that world, people weren't wearing Nehru jackets, smoking pot and jamming for 24 hours a day. . . .

The Kinks slipped into rock history through the back door. All of those great albums that we talk about now, like Face to Face, Something Else by the Kinks and Village Green Preservation Society — nobody bought those records in the sixties.  But those of us who love those records — and a lot of us are musicians — have loved them for decades.

*     *     *     *     *

The Kinks recorded a lot of songs about real people – adults, not teenagers – dealing with real problems.

Click here to listen to “Dead End Street,” which is one of those songs.  

Click here to buy the record from Amazon.