40 Year Itch: Ege Bamyasi

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This was the first Can LP I bought brand new (Torquay 1972) and it is still my favourite. 

-Julian Cope

There is probably no better introduction to the sonically trance-inducing, highly experimental world of Krautrock than Can's approachable fourth album. That's despite its fairly unapproachable name Ege Bamyasi --which means Aegean Okra in Turkish.

Thanks to a hit single, "Spoon", which hit #6 in the German charts and sold 300,000 copies, Can had enough money to rent out a large cinema in Weilerswist. They nailed 1,500 army surplus mattresses to the walls for soundproofing and began work on the album that would accompany "Spoon".

It wasn't an easy session. Guitarist Michael Karoli was falling ill to what would turn out to be a perforated ulcer. And keyboardist Irmin Schidt and vocalist Damo Suzuki were obsessively playing chess. Getting the album finished involved some chaotic, last minute recordings which may explain some of Suzuki's slap dash lyrics like "Hey you, you're losing, you're losing, you're losing, your Vitamin C".

For his part Suzuki says nobody should be looking for wisdom in his lyrics:

"I can't sing, so I use the voice as an instrument, " he told Mojo Magazine." I'm not interested in anything in particular, that's why I sing about nothing. I improvise melody and texture too...Sometimes it sounds like English, French or German, but really it is the language of the Stone Age."

The album did get finished on time. Ege Bamyasi to much critical acclaim at the time. Melody Maker called Can "the most talented and most consistent experimental rock band in Europe. England included." The album remains highly though of with even the vaunted hipsters of Pitchfork giving it a 9.8 out of 10.

CAN tells their own story--including how Damo first took the stage without ever rehearsing with Can-- here

Curt Smith of Tears For Fears Picks His Top Ten

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To promote their singles "Pale Shelter" and "Mad World" ( then climbing to #3 on the UK charts) , Tears For Fears vocalist, bass player and keyboardist Curt Smith offered this art rock Top 10 list to the October 28th issue of Smash Hits which comes courtesy of Brian at Like Punk Never Happened.

40 Year Itch: A Good Place Now

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For those who think J J Cale is just too feisty, there's the 1972 album Bobby Charles recorded with members of The Band. Charles was just 17 when he wrote the Bill Haley and The Comets hit "See You Later Alligator" in 1955. He also penned the great Fats Domino tune "Walking To New Orleans".

 What did he do in the 60's? Nobody knows but he showed up in Woodstock NY in 1971 and recorded an album of down home laid back songs for Bearsville Records with Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, and Dr John, Mac Rebennac. There's at least a half of a great album here including the single "Small Town Talk" ( with Dr John's keyboards piping in beautifully) , "Tennessee Blues" and his masterpiece "I Must Be In a Good Place Now". Bobby Charles came out in November of 1972 and has remai9ned one of the great obscure albums of the 70's until it's recent re-release. Bobby Charles played on The Band's Last Waltz Show but it wasn't filmed. And then , once again, he vanished. Bobby Charles passed away in January of 2010.

40 Year Itch :We Can Share The Women

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Of course it's sprawling! Europe '72, released on November 5, 1972, is a three record set documenting the Grateful Dead's tour of Western Europe in the Spring of 1972.The Dead hauled around a 16 track recorded to capture the tour so songs are taken nine separate concerts. Double platinum, it remains the best selling of all the live Dead albums although it must be admitted, the band sweetened their performances in the studio, overdubbing harmony vocals in places.

Europe '72 showcases the band's Americana phase with songs like "Jack Straw", "Cumberland Blues" and "Truckin" but there's plenty of psychedelia as well ("China Cat Sunflower", "I Know You Rider").

Below is the Copenhagen show from which "Brown Eyed Woman" was taken:

40 Year Itch: A Royal Rock N Roll Wedding

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There are two stories that explain why superstars Carly Simon and James Taylor got married in Simon'[s tiny Manhattan apartment on November 3, 1972. There's the story the couple told Rolling Stone Magazine ( in which JT quotes the title of Carly's first hit)

ROLLING STONE: Do you want to talk about why you decided to get married?
 JAMES: That's the way we always heard it should be.
CARLY: I mentioned one morning to James in London that I thought we should get married, and James was kind of hesitant in his response. He said, "Oh well, there's really no reason to get married. We love each other and we've been living together." And then later on in the afternoon, James said, "You know I've been thinking about it and maybe we should get married." I said, "Well, what's happened between this morning and this afternoon?" He said, "This afternoon it was my idea."



And there's the more salacious version that involves Bianca Jagger calling JT to tell him Mick and Carly were having an affair in LA. He defended Carly and when she returned, he popped the question. Carly has said
"There's nothing that gets men so crazy as other men pursuing their women. Boy, did we decide fast!"

In any case, it was a small affair. There were only three guests at the wedding. Carly's songwriting partner Jake Brackman was best man for both the bride and groom. That night, during his concert at Radio City Music Hall JT announced the marriage to cheers of approval from the crowd.

That same month Carly released her third album No Secrets, a gold record that would top the album charts in the US for five weeks and wind up in the collection of my childhood home. It begins with a song, "The Right Thing To Do" , written directly for James, who had fallen back into a heroin addiction at the time so the line "nothing you can ever do will ever turn me away from you" has quite a lot of resonance.

There are songs that examine Carly's childhood ( "The Carter Family") and her relationship with her late father ( "Embrace Me Your Child" which James called the strongest song on the album) and songs that confess a bit more bed-hopping than even the most confessional of singer songwriters would usually admit to ("We Have No Secrets" and "Waited So Long"). And of course there was "You're So Vain" (discussed in a May post). All immaculately produced by Nilsson's main man Richard Perry.

40 Year Itch: Donovan's Intimate Performance

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On November 2, 1972, the BBC2 aired Donovan: An Intimate Performance featuring the singer. Sitting on a carpeted platform with two guitars and a harmonica, Donovan intimately performed:
01. Jennifer Juniper
02. There Is A Mountain
03. Catch The Wind
04. The Ordinary Family
05. Lovely Princess
06. People Call Me The Pied Piper
07. A Well Known Has-Been
08. Happiness Runs
09. Colours
10. Sailing Homeward
11. Cosmic Wheels/Maria Magenta
12. The Pee Song
13. Mellow Yellow

"The Pee Song", heard above, came from 1971's H.M.S. Donovan, his second album for children.
By the time the show aired this August 1972 performance, it had been nearly four years since Donovan had a Top 20 hit single in the UK.

6 Degrees of Separation: Ry Cooder to Big Country

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On his second album of 1972, the November release Boomer's Story, Ry Cooder performs an instrumental version of "Dark End Of The Street". The song--a 1967 hit for soul singer James Carr--is written by Memphis songwriter and producer Dan Penn who also contributes some vocals on the album.

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Though Dan Penn gave most of his songs to others ( there was also "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and The Box Tops hit "Cry Like a Baby") Penn records his own "Nobody's Fool" for his 1973 debut with his Muscle Shoals AL buddies. Alex Chilton would cover the song nearly 15 years later. Keyboardist Mike Utley is one of the keyboard players.

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Utely is also on board The Train I'm On, Swamp Fox Tony Joe White's 1972 country/soul album that is rapidly gaining a new fan base. The cover photo is taken by one of Rock's great photographers Jim Marshall.

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Blessed with a great eye and great access (as the chief photographer at Woodstock and the only backstage photographer at The Beatles last concert) Jim Marshall has shot a number of iconic photos including the one above of Johnny Cash at San Quentin. The art director for the live album was a man named Howard Fritzson.

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Fritzson has more than a thousand credits as art director including one for Talk Talk Talk, the 1981 album by Psychedelic Furs. Talk Talk Talk was produced by Steve Lilywhite.

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Among Steve Lilywhite's credits are albums by U2, XTC, The Rolling Stones and The Crossing, a 1983 hit album from the Scottish band Big Country.