Slowhand is the fifth solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Released on 25 November 1977 by RSO Records, and titled after Clapton's nickname, it is one of his most commercially and critically successful studio albums. Slowhand produced the two hit singles "Lay Down Sally" and "Wonderful Tonight", reached various international music charts and was honored with numerous awards and recording certifications. In 2012, a deluxe edition was released to celebrate the album's 35th anniversary.
Clapton wanted to work with record producer Glyn Johns, because he thought Johns produced great work with famous groups like the Rolling Stones and Eagles and understood how to work with both British and American musicians. While in the studio with Johns, Clapton noted that the A-list producer was very disciplined and disliked jamming, because it would kill important recording time. Although Clapton and his band were intoxicated nearly all the time when recording, Johns liked Clapton's work and brought out the best in every musician, according to Clapton.
The album was titled after Clapton's nickname, which was given to him by Giorgio Gomelsky. In his 2007 autobiography, Clapton recalled that the name "Slowhand" seemed to be hanging on to his real name, because it seemed to be well received by both his American friends and fans who think of the Wild West when hearing the nickname. The album's artwork was done by Clapton himself with the help of Pattie Boyd and Dave Stewart, credited as "El & Nell Ink". Besides choosing various photos for the inner side of the gramophone record packaging are two pictures, Clapton notes, which have deeper importance to him: one picture, in which he kisses Boyd and another photograph showing a demolished Ferrari 365 GT4 BB, which Clapton bought after seeing George Harrison turning up with the same model at his Hurtwood Edge Estate. The car, which had been involved with Clapton in a car accident after the British recording artist finished touring in Australia, nearly killed him.
Slowhand was released on 25 November 1977 by RSO Records.[9] In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone, John Swenson found Clapton's playing more subtle than before but his songs sobering and interesting psychologically, especially "Next Time You See Her", as they showed him "in touch with the horrible moral power and long-suffering self-righteousness that is the essence of the blues".[10]Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic, lamenting how most of the record's best guitar solos were played by George Terry and feeling Clapton had regressed as a singer, "sounding like he's blown his voice. Doing what, I wonder."[5]
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the confident, virtuosic quality in the band's playing and the diversity of the songwriting made Slowhand "rank with 461 Ocean Boulevard as Eric Clapton's best albums".[2] Yahoo! Music's Dave DiMartino said the record was full of hits and "tasteful" music.[11] In 2003, Slowhand was ranked number 325 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Red Headed Stranger is the eighteenth studio album by American outlaw country singer Willie Nelson and released in 1975. After the wide success of his recordings with Atlantic Records, coupled with the negotiating skills of his manager, Neil Reshen, Nelson signed a contract with Columbia Records, a label that gave him total creative control over his works. The concept for the album was inspired by the "Tale of the Red Headed Stranger", a song that Nelson used to play as a disc jockey on his program in Fort Worth, Texas. After signing with Columbia he decided to record the song, and arranged the details during his return to Austin, Texas, from a trip to Colorado. It was recorded at low cost at Autumn Sound Studios in Garland, Texas. The songs featured sparse arrangements, largely limited to Nelson's guitar, piano and drums. Nelson presented the finished material to Columbia executives, who were dubious about releasing an album that they at first thought was a demo. However, Nelson had creative control, so no further production was added.
A concept album, Red Headed Stranger is about a fugitive on the run from the law after killing his wife and her lover. The content consists of songs with brief poetic lyrics and arrangements of older material such as Fred Rose's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain", Wolfe Gilbert's "Down Yonder" and Juventino Rosas' "O'er the Waves". Despite Columbia's doubts and the limited instrumentation, Red Headed Stranger was a blockbuster among country music and mainstream audiences. It was certified multi-platinum, and made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. The cover of "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain", released as a single previous to the album full release became Nelson's first number one hit. The title of the album would become a lasting nickname for Nelson. It was ranked #183 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[1] and number one on CMT's 40 Greatest Albums in Country Music. In 2010 it was inducted to the National Recording Registry.
In 1986 Nelson starred as the Red Headed Stranger in a movie of the same name, based on the story of the album. The album has had a strong cultural impact; the song "Time of the Preacher" was used often in the British television miniseries Edge of Darkness, and its lyrics were used in the first issue of the comic Preacher.
Band of Gypsys is a live album by Jimi Hendrix and the first without his original group, the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It was recorded on January 1, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City with Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles on drums, frequently referred to as the Band of Gypsys. The album mixes funk and rhythm and blues elements with hard rock and jamming, an approach which later became the basis of funk rock. It contains previously unreleased songs and was the last full-length Hendrix album released before his death.
After his appearance at Woodstock with an interim group that included Cox, Hendrix began developing new songs and recording demos. When Miles became involved, he and Cox agreed to record a live album with Hendrix to be used to settle a contract dispute with a former manager. The new material, influenced by Cox's and Miles' musical approaches, signals a new direction for Hendrix. Songs such as "Power of Soul" and "Message to Love" (originally "Power to Love" and "Message of Love")[a] still maintain the dominant role of Hendrix's guitar, but show funk and R&B influences. Lyrically, they also explore new, more humanistic themes for Hendrix. The two numbers written and sung by Miles bear the stylings of soul music. The anti-riot/anti-war "Machine Gun", draws on Hendrix's earlier blues aspirations, but incorporates new approaches to guitar improvisation and tonal effects.
As the album's producer, Hendrix had a difficult time completing the task. Presented with the sometimes problematic recordings and resigned to turning it over to a different record company, Hendrix expressed his dissatisfaction with the final product. Shortly after its release, Band of Gypsys reached the top ten of the album charts in the US and UK as well as appearing in charts in several other countries. Although it was as popular as his albums with the Experience, it received mixed reviews. Some faulted the performances as tentative and underprepared; additionally, Miles' contributions on drums and vocals have been characterized as plodding and obtrusive. However, "Machine Gun" is generally regarded as the album's highlight and one of Hendrix's greatest achievements. The influence of Band of Gypsys is heard in the funk rock developments of the 1970s and has been cited as an inspiration by various later rock musicians. Reissues of the album on compact disc included three extra songs recorded during the Fillmore East shows, and additional material has been released on later albums.
The new decade brought another #1 album for Jennings, his fifth since 1976. Produced by the singer and Waylon's drummer Richie Albright, the mood is lighter than it had been on Jennings' previous release, the ballad-heavy What Goes Around Comes Around. Jennings later said of both records, "Virtually identical in cover look and personnel, the two albums revolved around his resolute bass drum, while the guitars swirled, traded licks, and I rode the rhythm section like a palomino."[2] It contains the popular "Theme from "The Dukes of Hazzard" (Good Ol' Boys)", which became Jennings' tenth solo #1 hit. As the narrator for the 1975 movie Moonrunners, Jennings was tapped to serve in the same capacity for The Dukes of Hazzard which premiered on CBS in 1979 and was based on Moonrunners. Jennings wrote the theme song for the show and recorded two versions: the television theme version and a slightly different version made commercially available on both single and album which received radio airplay.[3] The television show version features a banjo which the commercially available version does not, as well as a bridge which follows the first verse and chorus. Following the second chorus, Jennings makes a tongue-in-cheek reference to his faceless appearance in the credits by singing, "I'm a good ol' boy, you know my mama loves me, but she don't understand why they keep showing my hands and not my face on TV!", a statement referring to the opening shot in the television theme version where Jennings is only shown below the neck playing guitar. As Andrew Dansby of Rolling Stone wryly noted in 2002, "In 1980, another generation discovered Jennings, albeit only a third of him." The song was certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America with over 2 million in sales.[4] Jennings' other songwriting contribution, "It's Alright," is a simultaneous tribute to Oklahoma rocker J.J. Cale (Music Man opens with a cover of Cale's song "Clyde") and George Jones ("If we could all sing like we wanted to, we'd all sound like George Jones"). Waylon also mentions his wife Jessi Colter on "It's Alright" and recorded her song "Storms Never Last" for the LP, which they would reprise on their duet album Leather and Lace. In the liner notes to The Essential Waylon Jennings, Wade Jessen quotes the singer: "Jessi had this song and she threw it away. Like Lash Larue I brought it back. She said, 'I have a silly song for you.' There was not a rhyming line it, every line in the song standing on its own. At first the chorus went, 'Storms never last/Do they, Waylon?' She wrote it for me." The singles "Clyde" and "Storms Never Last" reached #7 and #17 respectively.
Jennings relied on covers heavily for Music Man, which may have been an indication of his dampened creativity due to years of touring, recording, and drug abuse. In addition to Cale, he also covers songs by Kenny Rogers, whose 1979 album Kenny had kept Waylon's previous album out of the #1 spot, and Jimmy Buffett. One of Jennings most unexpected recordings is his surprisingly credible version of Steely Dan's 1972 song "Do It Again", although for some purists his propensity for remaking songs well outside the realms of country music was in danger of becoming schtick. Jennings was far more at home on the Ernest Tubb classic "Waltz Across Texas" and the Harlan Howard's lascivious "Nashville Wimmen."Jerry Reed, Johnny Rodriguez, and Randy Scruggs play on the album.
Where We All Belong is the third album by The Marshall Tucker Band (credited to “Marshall Tucker Band”). It is a double album; album one is a studio album and album two is a live album, featuring extensive jamming by the band and guest fiddle player, Charlie Daniels, on "24 Hours at a Time". Album two was recorded live at the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 31, 1974. Toy Caldwell is credited in the liner notes as playing Lead Guitar and Vocals on "Can't You See", a track that is unlisted in either the cover or the labels. Can't You See was actually recorded at this show, but would be retained for release on the band's following album, Searchin' for a Rainbow, in 1975. Album one was recorded in 1974 in Macon, Georgia at Capricorn Studios.
Live Alive is the first live album compiled from four live performances by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. The performances were recorded on July 15, 1985 at the Montreux Jazz Festival; July 17–18, 1986 at the Austin Opera House; and July 19, 1986 at Dallas Starfest. Much of the album was overdubbed in the studio.[2]
The 1985 Montreux performance was much better received than the 1982 visit, when some of the crowd booed Vaughan's hard blues sound. The song selection for Live Alive displays many of SRV's biggest influences: Jimi Hendrix ("Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"), Howlin' Wolf ("Commit a Crime"), and Buddy Guy ("Mary Had a Little Lamb"). The song "Don't Stop By The Creek, Son" (Johnny Copeland) was performed at the 1985 Montreux show but was omitted from the CD release.
"I'm Leaving You (Commit a Crime)" is incorrectly credited on the album to C. Burnett, better known as Howlin' Wolf. Although Howlin' Wolf was the first to record the song on the album The London Howlin' Wolf Sessions, it was written by James Oden, although Bill Janovitz says otherwise on www.allmusic.com The title is also incorrect, because "I'm Leaving You" is a completely different song by Howlin' Wolf. The song was originally titled "What a Woman!", but was released in 1981 (after Wolf's death) as "Commit a Crime" on the album "All Night Boogie". It is not unlikely that the title used on Live Alive was an honest mistake, since the lyrics start with "I'm leaving you woman, before I commit a crime". When Kenny Wayne Shepherd recorded the song for his 1995 album Ledbetter Heights, he carried on the mistake and used Stevie Ray Vaughan's title for the song, and also credited Howlin' Wolf as the writer.
Jesus Was a Capricorn is the fourth album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1972 on Monument Records. The album cover pictures Kristofferson and his soon-to-be wife Rita Coolidge. "Why Me" reached #1 on the Country singles charts.
All songs by Kris Kristofferson except as noted
- "Jesus Was a Capricorn (Owed to John Prine)" – 2:28
- "Nobody Wins" – 3:06
- "It Sure Was (Love)" – 2:51
- "Enough for You" – 3:05
- "Help Me" (Larry Gatlin) – 3:22
- "Jesse Younger" – 2:40
- "Give It Time to Be Tender" (Kristofferson, Donnie Fritts) – 3:26
- "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" (Kristofferson, Stephen Bruton) – 2:58
- "Sugar Man" – 3:59
- "Why Me" – 3:26
In late September 1974, as his single "I'm a Ramblin' Man" was riding high on the country singles charts, Jennings and producer Ray Pennington recorded three shows with the Waylors: one at Dallas' Western Place and two more at Austin's Texas Opry House . The original LP assembled from these shows is one of Jennings' most highly praised releases and includes some of his most popular songs, including "Rainy Day Women," "This Time," and "Good Hearted Woman." The latter track had been included on Wanted! The Outlaws with an overdubbed vocal by Willie Nelson and released as a single, hitting #1 on the Billboard country singles chart and peaking at #25 on the pop chart. The album also contained songs not found on his previous records, such as the Jimmie Rodgers song "T For Texas," a cover of Nelson's "Me and Paul," and Rex Griffin's anguished 1930's lament "The Last Letter." The album is best known for "Bob Wills Is Still the King", which had appeared as the B-side to his 1975 #1 hit "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way." The Wills tribute, which Jennings introduces as "a song I wrote on a plane between Dallas and Austin," took aim at country trends, including the outlaw country movement that he and friend Willie Nelson had done so much to create. As author Michael Striessguth observes, "It was another delightful example of Waylon's eagerness to poke fun at the highfalutin music industry, in this case, Willie Nelson and the redneck rock thing down in Texas. It don't matter who's in Austin/Bob Wills is still the king."[1]
According to Rich Kienzle's liner notes for the 2003 expanded edition, Jennings had originally planned on releasing a double album, but the idea was dropped simply because double albums were not considered viable in country music, although they were very popular in rock music. In 1999, a revised CD version restored the nine extra tracks like Jennings had wanted, including the outlaw anthem "Lonesome, On'ry and Mean," the Kris Kristofferson songs "The Taker" and "Loving Her Was Easier than Anything I'll Ever Do Again," and the Willie Nelson-composed "Pick Up the Tempo." In 2003, an expanded deluxe version was released that contained 42 tracks taken from the three shows, making it the definitive document of Jennings live sound in this mid-seventies prime. Jennings is backed by his band the Waylors, including drummer Richie Alright and the legendary steel guitarist Ralph Mooney. Mooney, who had previously played with Bakersfield singers Wynn Stewart, Buck Owens, and Merle Haggard and had co-written the country standard "Crazy Arms," is in especially fine form on the recordings, with Jennings calling out "Pick it, Moon!" on several instrumental breaks. In his essay for the 2003 expanded edition of the album, Rich Kienzle notes:
- "Moon was the unifier within the Waylors. His sharp toned, economical style gave the band's disparate musical elements cohesion. He played exactly what the song needed - no more, no less. His playing made a greater point: Waylon's sound might have roared more than some purists and old timers might have liked (in that era, a few reactionaries actually felt he was assaulting all that country held dear). But with Moon riding shotgun, it couldn't have been anything but country."
On Willie's "Me and Paul," Waylon changes the tag line to "me and Tompall," a reference to his good friend and fellow outlaw renegade Tompall Glaser, and he mentions Billy Joe Shaver by name on the Shaver-written "Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me." On "Ladies Love Outlaws," he proclaims that "Outlaws touch ladies anywhere they want!" and utters a loud "goddamn" on "Laid Back Country Picker" and again menacingly on "The Taker," a rarity for a country singer on record at the time.
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