Coulda-shoulda made it B-I-G bands

All About Eve was a terrific group out of England that never made it here.

Jennifer Ferguson a singer from South Africa is amazing. Bet none of you have heard of her.


By the way some one earlier made a post about Daniel Lanois, Acadie. That is a great album. What really amazes me is that he has a new completed album waiting for release but he can't get a record company to release it last I read.

 

Bradley,
Just a small quibble with your post. Barry 'Byrd' Burton was the original lead guitar player (and producer) for the first four (and the best) albums. They've gone through a series of guitar players since. Also I believe James Hooker (piano) is no longer with the band, but is playing with Nanci Griffith. Thanks for the observations on John Prine/Steve Goodman and of course Gordon.
-Craig

 

Very much agree with John Hiatt. He's fantastic.
On the up side, at least a few of his songs have hit the Top 40 after being covered by other performers. I'm sure that those royalty checks come in handy.
And I think 'Have A Little Faith In Me' has been used on enough movie and TV soundtracks to pay many months of rent for John
Dan C

 

The Blasters - rock and roll at it's best!
The Flatlanders - I guess the way NOT to make it big is to release albums thirty years apart.

 

Yeah Mike,WXRT should be nationwide,one of the good reasons for living in Chicago.They play blues too.Been listening since 73 when they had two featured artists a day.They would play a really wide range,like Judy Collins and Muddy Waters.They've toned down some since but still the best around.I'd be willing to bet that most of the artists listed here would rate Chicago as one of their strongest bases.It all starts with radio and most of it's like McDonalds,the same everywhere.

 

Yes I guess you're right, but surely he's not in, say, the top 100. (Can't believe everything you read you know!)

Did you ever see the well orchestrated interview/documentary between Van and his wife Michelle?

He made some remark about making absolutely nothing from music in the 60s.

The CD era and concurrent resurgence in interest in "remastered"older (60s/70s) music has probably proved a windfall for Van as it will have done for many artists.

His own modern day CDs couldn't possibly be big sellers, in relative terms.
He'd be picking up some decent royalties though. He probably made some money out of that awful rod stewart version of Have I Told You Lately.

 

The Velvet Underground were sorely unappreciated in their day (by the masses if not the musical and critical communities), but it's funny how things have a nice way of evening-out over time; their stature continues to grow in hindsight, even as lesser bands that sold more albums and got more airplay way back when fade into richly-deserved obscurity.

 

Really have to agree here, especially Joe Ely, the "Musta Notta Gotta Lotta" album will kick your butt.

Some others I think should have made it or made it much bigger:

Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys
Lavay Smith
I feel Mike Bloomfield should have been much bigger same with Dr. John, Rory Gallagher and Charlie Musselwhite.
Also, most any band that had John Cipollina in it.

 

The Amazing Rhythm Aces had another hit here.ASHES OF LOVE,I wish I could play acoustic guitar like that.

 

Billy Thorpe is both a talented song-writer and gifted musician that never really got his just financial rewards for such great albums as Children Of The Sun and 21st. Century Man.

Does anyone know why his albums were yanked off the shelf back in 1981?

 

A Billy Thorpe fan! Fantastic!

Did you know that in the mid 60s he was just about as big as the Easybeats in Australia. did some great cover versions, Poison Ivy, Over the Rainbow (mersey style) and lots more.

The albums you mention are from his later "heavier" period, I think after he moved to the states.

Go to chaosmusic.com.au to get those albums for ridiculously cheap prices. Remember one oz dollar is about 53c US.

 

Actually Peter it's about the same value as our Canadian Peso ( North American humor)

 

Oh God ,Peter not a Thorpie fan !!!
I did like his version of Poison Ivy(love those crashing guitar chords,very garagey) but the early 70's Thorpe with all that 12 bar heavy blues boogie stuff ,no thanks.Have you bought the DVD of Sunbury by the way,you can see him and the boys bludgeon 4 songs on it and as bonus material there is a 1971 Melbourne Town Hall gig that was released as a live album back then and an interview(I think) of the Aztecs in a VD clinic (of all places) from the same time.

 

Easy !!
The band that shoulda been huge in the States was the great 1960's Brit band THE MOVE.
Songs like Flowers In The Rain,I Can Hear The Grass Grow,California Man,Brontosaurus and the original(and best) version of Do Ya later redone by ELO(Jeff Lynne was a member of the Move.)

Here's a gig review from a guy who saw the Lynne era Move live.

THE MOVE - Woodsend Green, Flixton, Manchester - I still remember to this day the moment when my mate Al arrived clutching the 'Manchester Evening News' where he'd stumbled across the ad and how excited we were that 'The Move' were coming to town and we were going to get to see them - LIVE ! - me, Al, Bill and Steve. We were only young lads then, same age as Joel is now ! We had a band as well ! The year was 1970 and Brontosaurus had just hit the UK charts, Roy had had his face painted for the first time - and we were just so excited. Originally 'Mungo Jerry' were supposed to be on the same bill, but they didn't make it. The venue was a Marquee, in Woodsend Green, Flixton, Manchester - two bus rides and a long walk away - the date Saturday Sept 19th, 1970. The Move line up was Roy Wood, Bev Bevan, Jeff Lynne and Rick Price. We got there really early - like hours before anyone else - which was when my mate Steve showed me the sketch he'd done of Roy and told us how he was going to get on stage somehow and ask Roy to sign it! I started to worry then - that we'd get thrown out or worse ! But Steve was like that and it was no use trying to talk him out of it - he was an art student and a Frank Zappa fan ! Gradually, numbers swelled and the support bands were really quite good and my mate Bill fell in love with a Go-Go- Girl. The DJ was Dave Eager from Radio 1 who was a Jimmy Saville type understudy and relatively famous around Manchester. And then, around nine things started stirring on stage and Rock legends we'd only ever seen on telly started moving around in the shadows and plugging in guitars and causing surges of feedback. Now there was a real hum and buzz about the place as Bev Bevan started to test his hi-hat and give his bass drum what for ! That was when Steve leapt on to the stage, just as the light-show got switched on and made a bee-line for Roy Wood! I didn't think he was going to make it because these two heavies were quick off the mark - but Woody signalled them everything was OK - had a quick chat to Steve, told him he liked the sketch and then autographed it ! Seconds later Steve was back with us and 'The Move' were opening with their terrific version of The Beatles 'She's a Woman'. Next came Jeff Lynne's 'What' with the amps really wound up delivering mind-blowing power chords. Rick Price did most of the talking between songs and introduced 'Lightning Never Strikes Twice' followed by the one we'd all been waiting for - BRONTOSAURUS. The crowd really showed their appreciation for this as Roy started doing his cool 'Neolithic rock stomp' all around the stage. I suspect now that the producers of 'Jurassic Park' were there that night and captured what we were being treated to - because the atmosphere reproduced by that film was what we experienced 30 years earlier seeing 'The Move' - Do it - Do it - Do it - LOUD !!! Rick Price then asked us all to show our respect and remember one of the World's greatest ever guitarists - Jimi Hendrix - who died the day before . . . . . Then came tracks from the album of the day 'Looking On' including the title track followed by another ear-bender 'Turkish Tram Conductor Blues' - I'd never realised just how important wax was to the proper functioning of the ears before seeing 'The Move' live ! Now the band were on a roll and straight into 'I Can Hear the Grass Grow' . This was the only song to survive the 'Carl Wayne' era and really got the crowd motoring and clamouring for more. There were shouts for 'Flowers in the Rain' and 'Blackberry Way' but no chance. This was the new 'Move' and rockin' all the way. I hadn't noticed before that the audience was by and large seasoned rockers mixed with those who just came for a good night out - not sure what to expect. And then it was nearly all over - saving one of the best till last - ' When Alice Comes Back To The Farm' How that song didn't make number ONE I'll never know - except the studio recording lacked the oomph of the live version with cello and sax coming in and diluting the powerful slide guitar . . .Never mind. What a night, though ! Yo ! And then, as we trudged home to catch the last trolley-bus into town me, Al, Bill and Steve stood for a moment reminiscing, outside some British Legion type Working Men's club eating our 'fish 'n' chips' and listening to some guy inside on drums and another one on piano doing - 'In the Summertime' - so we didn't miss 'Mungo Jerry' after all ! ..............Pete

 

Do I agree with you Cousin It?.......eyes left!

Roy Wood's name should be included in that oft quoted list of Lennon/McCartney, Townsend, Davies, Jagger/Richards.

 

Oh so true !! Woody's sooooo underrated because of his lack of success in the States and leaves him in a kind of twilight zone as far as U.S music writers/critics are concerned.He's a fantastic guitarist,not even mentioned when discussing Brit guitar heroes of the era and as far as I'm concerned he could show most of them the door and a songwriter without peer.Night Of Fear,I Can Hear The Grass Grow,Blackberry Way,Fire Brigade,from power-pop to psych-pop,whimsical stuff to the heaviest boneheaded riffs(the headbangers would love some of Wood's 1970 material that band could do it all.There are live tapes extant of the band performing at the Fillmore West during the only tour they ever did of the U.S. but release has been held up due to legal wrangling over royalty points. Here's a gig review from Fillmore show of that tour

The Move @ Fillmore West October 16, 1969

On October 16, 1969 after previous bookings and cancellations The Move finally opened a Four-night stand at the Legendary Fillmore West in San Francisco. Hardly a warm-up act for Little Richard and Joe Cocker. Their performance that night was unforgettable. This tribute and review is highlights taken from a cassette of that evening’s show (traded and copied over years) originally recorded on a portable reel to reel recorder (batteries) with one microphone at 3 and ¾ speed. Hardly audible at times, distorting from their volume and 3 generations of tape hiss. Listening to this historic rock and roll document 30 years later it still sounds fresh and powerful today.
The resident house announcer (Jerry Pompelli) opening comments were “This is a group we have wanted to bring in for a long time but we just couldn’t get it together”. Finally from England The Move. Carl says hello and leads a three-part harmony arrangement to Going Back. (The Byrds) Without a single instrument their voices filled the auditorium until Roy picks a electric 12 string. My Friends and I stood frozen with jaws-dropped. What an opening! Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited was next. Imagine never hearing this version and seeing them play it live! This led to Open my Eyes (The Nazz) *WOW* arranged like it was their own song. Carl then comments about Fire Brigade being a teenybopper song and that maybe after they got drunk they would play it. I yelled out Night of Fear and Carl laughed back yea right! Don’t Make My Baby Blue made my ears ring from Rick‘s precision bass with the Roto-Strings. They were LOUD. Last song of the first set was Fields of People which Carl gave credit to Roy Wood (referring to him as the Freak in the Bedspread) and his adaptation for the Electric Banjo.
Joe Cocker played his 1st set. Then Little Richard rocked The Fillmore with one long set! My friend caught one of the silver boots he threw into the audience.
Opening The Move’s 2nd Set was an explosive I Can Hear the Grass Grow (rocking blues version) not without, Guitar, Bass and Drum Solos lasting almost 12 minutes. Carl shares with the audience his experiences of the 3-day drive from New York. Last Thing On My Mind was played very tight. Then came Good Times a obscure R & R Song by The Easybeats of which I stole their arrangement and have played (never this good) in bands of my own over the years. Powerful Hello Suzie was the bomb that made us gleam within our daze. Under the Ice (Nazz again) closed the show out with more extended (Roy Wood meets Wes Montgomery) solos. (It was the 60s)
Overall they were well received, though Hippies at the Fillmore were sometimes easily agitated when British groups would blow off other local acts. Tonight was not the case. The Move stood way ahead of the others. And the headliners that night were stiff competition. Joe Cocker closed the show anticlimactic? This show was months proceeding the release of Shazam. It was a shame they never returned to promote its release. I was privileged to smoke a fag and chat with Carl, Rick and Bev between the sets. They were very polite gentlemen to a very inquisitive teenage Move fan. Carl told me Roy was busy tuning up his guitars and would not leave the back stage area.
In the 30 Years that have passed their music has remained timeless which tributes Roy, Carl, Bev and Rick for their unique style of musicianship (vocally and instrumentally), songwriting and arrangements. Stage presence not lacking humor. Very confidant in what they played while enjoying themselves on stage. This show was a dream come true for fans that had never heard (or ever again) most of the songs played on this historic tour. The forthcoming release of an official Live CD from one of the shows on this tour will testament the fact (then or now) that there is no other band like The Move!
John Rock October 16, 1999

 

Cousin It,

I also think that The Move were incredibly talented, and never really rewarded properly for their talent. To this day, "Shazam" remains one of my top 5 LPs of all time!!! I only wish that I would have had a chance to see them live, especially during the "Shazam" era. Roy Wood was a musical genius that deserved better; but somehow, I think that he liked it thay way. He never seemed to be tempted by the spotlight, unless he was on stage!!

In the US, I think that Big Star should have been huge. Their first 2 LPs are pop classics, and practically went straight to the cutout bins, after their release in the early '70's.





HeavyDistortion

 

I am sure Van Morrison does pretty well from a financial perspective. His modern day CD's all sell to a very devoted audience (including me) that are buying everything he does. While I am sure they do not do big numbers, it probably can be thought of as a large cult audience. Anything he puts out is usually #1 on Amazon's sales chart for a week or two, and hangs around in its top sellers for extended periods. I am sure he keeps his costs down in making the albums - he self produces and I can't imagine he is reworking his albums to death (he couldn't do that and still be on the album-a-year pace he has been on forever). I also heard at some point that he signs single album contracts/distribution deals, so I would think that he is not tied into any long term commitments that might be unfavorable to him. All in all, I imagine he has figured out how to make being a large cult artist profitable for himself, especially with a catalog like his.

 

Thanks for the great Move reviews Cousin It.


There is a great 2 CD repertoire compilation of Roy's solo stuff floating around called Exotic Mixture. It starts with several tracks from his first solo album Boulders (on which he plays all instruments) and continues chronologically from there. It excludes any Wizzard material.

The compilation unfortunately also evidences his gradual artistic decline. I think I've only played disc 2 once.

There is one brilliant track from Boulders called Wake Up where he uses a loop of splashing water as a percussion device.

On Forever he does the best Carl Wilson lead vocal impression I've heard since.....er...Carl Wilson.

Even though most of the best Move material predated Jeff Lynne's arrival, what a great pity Roy and Jeff didn't stick it out together a bit longer.



TO CM Wolff:

I agree completely!

 

How about the Austin, Texas husband and wife?
Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis
Bruce wrote and recorded Angry all the Time which Tim Mcgraw later recorded and made into a number 1 hit.
Kelly has jumped from label to label, but has one of the sweetest purest voices in country.

 

I've never grown tired of the first 2 albums from the Pousette-Dart band. Whether they could have ever "made it big", who knows.

Mike

 

I have a several favorites but as I'm actually supposed to be working I'll just post one.

Grin - Nils Logren's original band. They had a few regional hits but never really broke big. Songs like "See What A Love Can Do" and "White Lies" did moderately well but they never really got the promotion they needed to break into the big time. Once Nils started working with Neil Young I don't think we really cared about being a rock star and instead focused on becoming a first class guitar player. The albums Grin and 1+1 on the Spindizzy label are well worth the search.

 

SINGER/SONGWRITERS and other Texans

MICKEY NEWBURY

Songs have been hits for others (especially Amercan Trilogy by Elvis) but Newbury has never had any real recognition outside of loyal fans and those in the music industry - partly because tends to do things his own way, and only performs live on rare occaisions. However, he is electifying live. Solo acoustic music with the crowd so enthralled you almost forget the rest of the audience is there. If you've never heard of him or his music, pick up one of his CDs - you won't be disappointed.

TOWNES VAN ZANDT

Gained fame as a singer/songwriter (Pancho and Lefty) but had no real commercial success. Great tunes and (usually) great live shows. The first time I saw him live he was so drunk he could barely stand, and had the air of someone who'd probably be dead in a week, but there was an intensity to the performance that was unbelievable.

RODNEY CROWELL

One HUGE commercial success, then obscurity - and his best live song (King Richard) wasn't even on the album.

From sixties psychedelia, there's the 13th Floor Elevators and Fever Tree. The Elevators were, well, the Elevators. Fever Tree had one big hit (San Francisco Girls) but that was about it. Some of their lyrics were a little sophmoric, but they were very intense live.


As for unfortunates from another state or country I've always wonderd why Love didn't have more national success. They put out some great albums. And I have to agree on The Move and Richard Thompson. The Move was a great band. Much of Thompson's work is a little offbeat for a mainstream audience, but he is an incredible musician - the only person I've ever seen pick up an acoustic guitar and make it sound like TWO electric guitars

 

Status Quo. They did do well in Europe and elsewhere but never caught on over here. 'Piledriver' and 'Hello' were great albums, the latter a #1 in England. Their 2nd phase era works were/are the best (early to mid 70s).

 

Bradley,

JJ Cale is a great pick. Troubadour and Naturally are 2 of the greatest albums I own.

Mike