By a considerable margin, most of you chose to be Part of the Fogelberg Plan rather than going to Atlantis with that true British hippie Donovan. I guess not enough of you were mad about Saphron. Yet Donovan was a significant innovator in various ways, not to mention giving Jimmy Page and other members of Led Zepplin some work before they really were Led Zepplin (check out Hurdy Gurdy Man and that guitar player). If you listen to his expanded Best of CD you will here that he began as a folkie, much like Dylan. Then he had his psychedelic phase (which Dylan avoided like the plague), and then he experimented with various styles.
Dan Fogelberg, who died recently, much too soon, was a true craftsman of folk rock songs, and with considerable range from country rock to folk to folk rock to rock. His little box set is one of the best ever assembled as a sampling of his life work. Fogelberg also had lots of famous collaborators like Joe Walsh and other various Eagles. Dan Fogelberg was also a consummate performer live, so if you picked him, you are in for a treat on that island!
In games of cards there is something called a ‘tell’. Its a tip off as to what’s going on with that person. I deliberately set up the choice between Loggins and Messina and Kenny Loggins to see which way you would jump. If you picked the latter, you like the MOR more Pop and top 40 songs that Kenny churned out (remember all those movie themes— like Footloose). Loggins and Messina was much more of the country and folk rock band ala Poco and the latter day birds. My sister and I and my buddy Jeff went and saw these two old dudes play in Ohio last September and they were excellent— in good voice, still enjoying their music they did together. The definitive Loggins and Messina Lp was the very first one ‘Sittin’ In’ so called because Messina was doing just that— had no intentions of joining a band. But it was so hugely successful they went on tour, and that was that— they were a major group. I first saw Loggins and Messina at Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, just after that first album came out and oh my goodness they were great— complete with woodwind section, and amazing rhythm section. One of the major mistakes you can make as a top band is to bring on a hot new band as your opening act, if your own act is only fair. It happened that night at Duke. Loggins and Messina were smoking… and then out came Bread (yes I said Bread) as the headliner, and while David Gates was o.k…… well, they couldn’t hold a candle to Loggins and Messina.
While most of you picked Journey instead of Heart, they were both quite good in their prime and Journey has had an amazing resurrection in the last three years with Arnel Pineda as the new lead singer— who is definitely channeling Steve Perry. Both of course were 70s bands, but very different. Heart was that rarest of all bands— a band fronted by two women, the Wilson sisters and they could bring it!! Those Canadians were darn good, and this band stood in good company with other excellent Canadian rockers such as the Guess Who, Bryan Adams, Corey Hart, Echo and the Bunnymen…. and many more. And this brings us to an important point—– classic rock and roll was and is almost exclusively a product of Northern Europe and North America. Not too many classic bands from places like Germany or Italy or Greece or Spain or Portugal. The irony is— classic rock and roll is much more popular today in the Middle of Europe than it is in America any more. Thank God the Super Bowl still uses real rock and roll for their half time shows.
Most of you picked Yes over the Moody Blues, I am guessing largely for their 2nd and 3rd lps. Both of these bands indulged in symphonic rock, but Yes, early and late had a harder rock edge. The Moody Blues however were major innovators. They were the first to record a whole album with a major orchestra (Days of Future Passed), they were the first to use that pre-synthesizer/organ thing called the mellotron, and they were practically the inventors of the concept album— and they had some fabulous ones. My personal favorite was Question of Balance, but they had many more good ones. They were also remarkable in that they had four lead singers, until Pinder retired, and they used lots of flute long before Jethro Tull got going on flute rock. What one can say about Yes is that while they did not have the array of vocalists and song writers that the Moodies had, they for sure were much more masters of their instruments—- Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Bill Bruford, were amazing, and they really only needed one cherub to do most of the singing– Mr. Anderson. Various of you saw this as one of the toughest choices and I agree. But here again is where I tell you that live—- its Yes hands down on that island.
Why did I pair Fleetwood Mac and Three Dog Night. Because both bands had three lead singers. As several of you noted however, Fleetwood however wrote their own songs, but how many of you remember Peter Green?? Yes Fleetwood Mac had a pre- Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham phase which was much less well known, and really didn’t have top forty hits or sound. It was when the band reformed with Christine McVie, Stevie and Lindsey fronting things that they really got on a good roll for various years. Three Dog Night had an excellent live band, worth hearing on its own (go back and listen to the couple of live numbers on their Expanded Hits CD) and boy could those boys sing. But they were like a comet— they had a stretch of about four years when they were constantly in the top ten, and then they disappeared almost before the 70s started…. Fleetwood Mac had more longevity even though they had more romantic turmoil. If we were to judge these two bands live at their peak it would be a tough call, but probably because of the musicianship one would do better with the Mac.
In the most overwhelming majority of all, you picked U2 over Stevie Winwood. I certainly understand this even though Stevie Winwood has not only some excellent solo albums from the 70s and 80s but he is also still producing them. U2 has of course been called the last great classic rock band, and of the third wavers this is surely true. Their body of work is very impressive and they are still producing excellent CDs and remain creative and on top of their game. But U2 didn’t get started until the late 70s unlike Winwood who was in the Spencer Davis Group at 17 playing the Hammond B 3 and singing ‘I’m a Man’ and ‘Gimme Gimme Some Lovin’ way back in the 60s, and then was in Traffic and then in Blind Faith with Eric Clapton and then a solo artist, and now back together with Eric. U2 is probably the most popular rock band of the last twenty years for sure, and one of the remnants who show that classic rock and roll is not yet defunct.
In the just seeing if you are paying attention category, most of you picked Cream (again) over Iron Butterfly… a truly one album wonder, but boy was that whole album side ‘In a Gadda da Vida’ (aka in the Garden of Eden) popular. Their lead sing
er sounded like Eddie Vedder before Eddie was even alive! This was one of the first heavy rock jam bands with a psychedelic edge. To show you just how influential that whole psychedelic thing was in the late 60s, raise your hand if you knew that Kenny Rogers, yes that Kenny Rogers had as his first hit a psychedelic number—– bonus if you can name that tune and post it here in response to this one!!!
Ah Southern rock….from my home region. The Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band, Cowboy, and of course Skynyrd– who fired back at Neil Young for criticizing Alabama in their own ode to that state— Sweet Home Alabama….. however Freebird became their signature song. Not that many of you picked ZZ Top, which is a little bit of a surprise. I’ll bet they would have lost out to the Allman Brothers as well if I had made them the pairing with ZZ Top. Skynyrd was the founder of what came to be called redneck rock…. and they were influential in various directions…. including on that country band from Alabama who simply called themselves that. But there was so much more to southern rock than just what was happening in Alabama. Things were cooking in Georgia as well… and even in the late 70s in Athens a band like R.E.M. bubbled up to the surface and became big. It is odd but true that even some one like Kid Rock owes a lot to Skynyrd (seen the latest commercial he did?).
You were about evenly divided between ELP and Steely Dan, and for me this was a truly tough choice. I love them both, and loved King Crimson when Greg Lake was in it as well. While ELP put the classic back in classic rock due to Keith Emerson (remember Rodeo and other such rock versions of classical tunes), there was no one who did more creative jazz rock stuff than the Dan. Their albums just kept getting better and better and more funky and more funky, and just for good measure they did it again in the last ten years. I finally saw them about six years ago, and it was worth the wait. Donald Fagen has got to be one of the oddest and oddest looking lead men in a rock band ever. But then his sidekick guitarist Mr. B, is about equally on out there. This may partly explain their truly abstruse lyrics. But who cares— the music is great. I remember seeing ELP in Charlotte, and right in the middle of the concert Keith Emerson leaped off the stage and went running down the center aisle playing his mini-moog with a really long extension chord!!! Yes, this was in the pre-wireless pre-cell phone, pre-computer pre-mosh pit days. ELP had perhaps 2 great albums, but the Dan can account for more than that. Greg Lake was just a fair guitar player with a great voice, but Emerson could bring it as could Palmer the drummer. I have to go with the Dan on the island— hope they bring the Babylon Sisters with them.
I was truly surprised that in the battle of the Jones, and whilst trying to keep up with them today, that Rickie Lee got so many votes, and it was virtually a tie on this one. Howard Jones was and is the popmeister of the synth. Check out his recent CD Revolution of the Heart. If you like that late 70s early 80s synth pop sound, its excellent. Rickie Lee Jones however falls into the category of an artiste— she still produces some amazing albums long long after her hits like Chuckie’s in Love. She really falls into the Joni Mitchell category as a jazz rocker and folkie and her lyrics are about as interesting as Joni’s too. Lately she has been doing some Gospel stuff— yes you heard me right. I saw her here in downtown Lex a couple of years back and she was good, though like always, she seemed a bit stoned.
Well boys and girls its been a wonderful Magical Mystery Tour down the halls of classic rock and folk rock, and the good news is…. there is so much more of it out there to talk about, so those of you who were crushed not to see David Bowie or Free or Bad Company or Elvis Costello or America or Christopher Cross or Sheryl Crow or a bunch of others in this line up…. stay tuned. We will do it again.
And did I fail to mention that the island you will be standed on is LOST ISLAND. To see how you are going to get off there, check out the final season of that show beginning early Februrary.
Read Previous Post
