FROM THE "BEFORE THEY SUCKED" FILE

I'm not all that enamored with Blue Öyster Cult. When I was a teenager, they filled a role. They had guitars, lots of them, and their songs, for the first couple LPs anyway, had enough hard licks to turn the head of any guitar nut that was tired of blues rock. Punk rock was still a few years away.

The first Blue Öyster Cult song I heard was "Buck's Boogie" from a budget compilation called Guitars That Destroyed the World, a album title that worked. How could a teenage guitar freak possibly pass on a compilation with that title, particularly when it cost just a couple dollars? Shortly after my brothers and I (and half our friends) devoured that compilation, my younger brother stepped up and bought their second LP, Tyranny and Mutation. Question marks all around. The title, the cover art, the song titles...what the fuck was this? It rocked. That was enough.

Alas, as often happens with bands with a meaty guitar sound, in search of a hit they pulled back. Fucking "Don't Fear the Reaper". Done. It was the quintessential shark jump. I have not gone back.

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Listen:
Blue Öyster Cult - The Red and the Black mp3 at Internet Archive
Blue Öyster Cult - Cities on Flame With Rock 'n' Roll mp3 at ATumblr
Blue Öyster Cult - Tyranny and Mutation (full LP) (streaming) at YouTube
Visit:
Unsung: Julian Cope’s Album of the Month at Head Heritage The first three LPs and the shark jump(s).

FROM THE "BEFORE THEY SUCKED" FILE

Let me preface this by saying that Steven Tyler was not always a dwid. Here's another one where you might have to take an old fart's word for it. But it's true. I don't know what happened, but somewhere along the line, he morphed into the annoying caricature that he is today. But at one time, specifically after the New York Dolls were out of the picture, Aerosmith seemed to be in line as rightful heirs to the "American Stones" label. Granted, it was a long time ago. But they had the elements: a mouthy singer, an adequate lead guitarist with a shaggy hairdo, vices, good choices in covers, and a decent amount of swagger...you get the picture. Then the bottom began to fall out. A little after third LP "Toys in the Attic" came out, "Dream On" from their first album, became an FM radio hit. (Long story, but the late blooming had to do with the 1973 album version being extended by a minute in length and then released as a 45 with a big push in 1976.) If you liked their more rockin' stuff, this only served to remind you that, alas, an American version of the Stones would not be forthcoming. Not with a power ballad, one that had slipped by the first time it was released. (The Rolling Stones had the ballad formula down. One thing they did not do was a ballad that kept building, but never went anywhere.)

Were the Stones this self indulgent back then?

To the more cynical listeners, despite the amount of listening vested, the truth was out. They were already walking a fine line to begin with, now it was known. Aerosmith were full of themselves from the beginning. For those non-coddlers, it wasn't a matter of if they should ignore them, but at what point. Fans of varying degrees had different drop-off points. For some, it was right then, when "Dream On" became a hit. After all, it was then that Aerosmith knew what crowd they were playing for. Like the J.Geils Band of roughly the same vintage, the funk (and by that I mean raunch, not musical funk) began to dissipate.

If you're not of that opinion, I'll agree to disagree. But, really, I was largely describing my own opinion of the, I'll say it, has beens. I myself hung on until their fourth LP, "Rocks," largely based on "Back In The Saddle," a song I still love, and the impression left by a 1975 concert attendance (front row center, Aerosmith opening for ZZ Top).

Here's two versions of "Big Ten Inch," Bull Moose Jackson's and Aerosmith's, with just a few other odds and ends. If it wasn't for the need to exorcise my Aerosmith annoyance, this might have been a different post. Bull Moose will have to wait....

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Listen:
Aerosmith - Big Ten Inch mp3 at Monkey River Town
Bull Moose Jackson - Big Ten Inch mp3 at Beware of the Blog
Aerosmith - Back In the Saddle mp3 at 40 Cal Games
Video:
Aerosmith - Big Ten Inch (Live '77) at YouTube
Steven Tyler - Ham it up big boy (twenty seconds of rock n' roll poetic justice) at YouTube
Aerosmith on Wayne's World at YouTube with Tom Hanks as the roadie
Bull Moose Jackson profile by the Cleveland Blues Society at YouTube
WTF is this?:
Wyndio - Dream On mp3 at Oh My Songs
Semi-related:
Other "Before The Sucked" posts

FROM THE "BEFORE THEY SUCKED" FILE

You probably won't believe me, but the J. Geils Band used to be cool. As in sweaty, greasy, energetic and action packed. They had two LPs under their belt in '72, when they released their epic "Live" Full House album, one of the best beginning-to-end live LPs ever (at least that I've heard, and I've heard a lot). Really, it's so good that it still holds up today. Alas, they're better known for their MTV era hits, particularly the embarrassing "Centerfold."

Full House needs to be played as a set, to get a feel of the pace of their live show back then. Every song segues into the next, with comments from Peter Wolf serving as bumpers. It really isn't possible to listen to one song to fully experience it. So, here's just a taste, a cover of the Contours' "First I Look at the Purse," along with a link to a site with the full LP. There's also the Contours' original version of the same song for comparison.

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The J. Geils Band - First I Look At the Purse mp3 at 4Shared (Click on blue "Download Now" button.)
The Contours - First I Look At the Purse mp3 at 4Shared (Click on blue "Download Now" button.)
LP rip:
The J. Geils Band "Live" Full House LP download at Orexis of Death
Video:
The J. Geils Band - Floyd's Hotel/Hard Driving Man (Live 1972) at YouTube

THEY'RE ONE DOLLAR

First off, let me apologize for indulging in this long winded flashback. I wouldn't blame you for skipping to the end. For you younger folk, you're going to have to take my word on this one: Rod Stewart used to be cool. Really. I saw Rod Stewart and the Faces back in 1975, on a bill with (gulp) Loggins & Messina, Fleetwood Mac and Lynyrd Skynyrd (concerts had all sorts of freaky bills back then). It was at an outdoor venue, San Diego High School's Balboa Stadium. By the time the Faces came on, my friends and I were spent. We had walked into the concert with a five gallon cooler full of Tequila Sunrise (no shit). We were all under age, and none of us yet experienced drinkers; hence the overkill, and the choice of drink. Halfway through the show, we realized that we couldn't possibly finish off the cooler full of warming cocktail. So we did what any enterprising teens would do. We began selling drinks from where we were seated, at a buck a shot, right there in broad daylight. Hard as it may be to believe, security was so lax that no one questioned why there would be a line of people forming, leading to a bunch of fresh faced teenagers. We weren't shit faced or anything, but it was probably the first time most of us were buzzed. (My brother was loose enough that he had his first make out session, with one of my sister's friends.)

After a day of bands that we weren't there to see, as the sun was setting, the normal between-set music died down. David Rose's "The Stripper" began playing over the PA system; the band came out, and plugged in their instruments, to the anticipatory roar of the crowd. Then Rod Stewart came out, arms raised, with a bottle of champagne in one hand; the place went suitably nuts. Once they started playing, it became apparent why the road crew had laid out a stage length mat. Stewart would pick up speed and then slide on it, falling on his ass a few times. As would be expected, they played a mix of Faces and Rod Stewart solo stuff (it was after Smiler came out, so Rod Stewart did not yet fully suck). To be honest, I don't remember much of the set list, I just remember thinking that we were all part of the same party. The Faces were having a ball. They were loose, goofy and self deprecating, and probably as buzzed as anyone in the crowd. It was one of the first shows I'd been to that seemed like the performers and the audience were on the same page, albeit one soaked in silly soup.

One more memory must be exorcised. About a year later, my first girlfriend had just broken up with me. I'm driving down Friars Road in my (sorely missed) '61 Falcon station wagon, blasting the second hand FM radio, when the Rod Stewart cover of the Temptation's "(I Know) I'm Losing You" comes on. I started feeling all sad sack; woe is me type shit. That is, before the songs tempo started to pick up, and the rock endorphins began flowing. By the time Kenny Jones starts wailing, I'm thinking "Wow, Kenny Jones sure can play! ...Lynn who?"

Post script: Just before I was getting ready to post this, I ran into the documentary video posted below. About midway (at 2:54), Ronny Lane pretty much confirms what I said about being on the same page. (But you really should watch the whole thing.)

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Rod Stewart - (I Know) I'm Losing You mp3 at The Giant Panther
Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story mp3 at Rock Town Hall
The Faces - Stay With Me mp3 at Eresmas.net (?)
Rod Stewart - True Blue mp3 at NatalieMcDonald.com
The Faces - Ooh La La mp3 at Foe Weel (If you ever intend to grow old, you'll be glad you have this one.)
Video:
Rod Stewart & the Faces - (I Know) I'm Losing You at YouTube
Clip from a Faces documentary (1970) at YouTube

WHICH WAY YOU GOING BILLY?

If you've ever seen Repo Man, you might remember the scene when Emilio Estevez's character Otto is in a bar, and the Circle Jerks are on stage doing a acoustic faux-lounge version of "When the Shit Hits the Fan." As an aside, he mutters "I can believe I used to like this band." That's exactly what I thought, not long after ZZ Top's fourth LP. You'd never guess it now, but back before the buffoonery, ZZ Top were actually a tight blues rock band with no bells, no whistles, and no ridiculous outfits.

They came along at a perfect time for a young male teenager. I remember humming "Just Got Paid Today" after cashing my first three digit paycheck; and swilling my first beers to "Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers." Just about every band in the blues rock obsessed beach area party scene that I grew up in, knew that if the energy was lagging after one too many Allman Brothers songs, you played some ZZ Top. Everything was just fine. Then came Fandango, their fourth album. "Tush" got airplay. They were starting to blow up, and in the era of huge tour extravaganzas, they did it big. "That Little Ol' Band From Texas" (which is what they referred to themselves as) went on a stadium tour, complete with a stage in the shape of the state of Texas, and live animals, including a longhorn steer, a bison, two vultures and two rattlesnakes (the animal budget alone was $140K). To add more distress, this was when they started dressing alike (albeit, they were suits by Nudie). But the single most disturbing part of this whole "we'll do whatever it takes" fiasco, was those goddamned choreographed moves.

You can't coast on one gatefold sleeve forever.

I pretty much stopped listening to anything new by ZZ Top after that. I tested the water a little here and there, but in 1979, they all but told their old fan base to fuck off and die. In came the matching long ass beards and the spinning guitars, and the weird non-guitar shit started creeping into their music. And then, they did the unthinkable. Riding high, from catering to the lowest common denominator (MTV), they got the brilliant idea to enhance their earlier albums, to make them sound more 80's. It was the textbook definition of FUBAR. The original unfucked-with versions were not released on CD until 2006, at which time I started to consider giving them a pass. But, until they are up there, unchoreographed, without synthesizers, effects, animals, ridiculous outfits, or any sort of gimmicks, I'll still be saying "I can't believe I used to like these guys"

Here's a few from Billy Gibbon's earlier band, the Moving Sidewalks, and some cuts from the early ZZ Top albums, when they really were "That Little Ol' Band From Texas." And there's some covers too; by Motorhead, and Queens of the Stone Age (the latter on a rarities mix).

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Moving Sidewalks - Pluto - Sept. 31st mp3 at Merry Swankster
Moving Sidewalks - Every Night A New Surprise mp3 at Soylent Cream (Note: Fade-out cut short)
Moving Sidewalks - Flashback mp3 (via Box.net) at DailyBowBow
ZZ Top - Brown Sugar mp3 at SnapDrive.net
ZZ Top - Just Got Paid mp3 at TheSixman.com
ZZ Top - Francine (FUBAR version) mp3 at FileDen
ZZ Top - La Grange mp3 at MilwaukeeBay.com
ZZ Top - Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers mp3 at SoberMusicians.com (No, really.)
ZZ Top - Heard It On the X mp3 at DIYMedia.net
ZZ Top - Tush mp3 at Tracy Designs
Covers:
Motorhead - Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers mp3 at Heavy-Music.ru
Boula Matari Missie Tintin- Tush mp3 at BoulaMatari.org
The Queens of the Stone Age - Rarities Collection Vol 3 (zip, via MediaFire ) at Metal Bastard Goes Soft (Includes cover of ZZ Top's "Precious and Grace." Go there for complete song list.)
Oddball:
Lord Riffenstein - Tush ("No guitars with vocal") mp3 at LordRiffenstein What is this? Karaoke for guitar?