Joe Walsh - ...and on guitar (1974)

Joseph Fidler Walsh was born on November 20, 1947, in Wichita, Kansas, and lived in Columbus, Ohio, for a number of years during his youth. When Walsh was twelve years old, his family moved to New York City, then later to Montclair, New Jersey, where he attended Montclair High School, playing oboe in the school band. He got his first guitar at the age of 10, and on learning The Ventures' 'Walk Don't Run', he decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a guitarist. Inspired by the success of the Beatles, he replaced Bruce Hoffman as the bass player in the New Jersey group The Nomads, and after high school he attended Kent State University, where he spent time in various bands playing around the Cleveland area. One of these bands, The Measles, recorded two songs which appeared on The Ohio Express's 'Beg Borrow And Steal' album, as well as an instrumental for the b-side of one of their singles. Walsh majored in English while at Kent State, and was present during the Kent State massacre in 1970, which was something that profoundly affected him, leading him to drop out of university to pursue his musical career. Around Christmas 1967, James Gang guitarist Glenn Schwartz decided to leave the band to move to California, where he ended up forming Pacific Gas & Electric, and just days later Walsh knocked on Jim Fox's door and asked to be given a tryout as Schwartz's replacement. Walsh was accepted and the band continued as a five piece for a short time until Phil Giallombardo left. In May 1968, the group played a concert in Detroit at the Grande Ballroom opening for Cream, but at the last minute Silverman informed the others that he would not join them at the show, so the other three took to the stage as a trio, and they liked their sound so much that they decided to remain as a three-piece. In 1968 the band signed with manager Mark Barger, who put them in touch with ABC Records staff producer Bill Szymczyk, and he signed them to ABC's new Bluesway Records subsidiary in January 1969. The James Gang had several minor hits and became an early album-oriented rock staple for the next two years, releasing one live and four studio albums before Walsh left in 1971. He was invited to move to England and join Humble Pie by Steve Marriott, since Peter Frampton had left the band, but declined his offer, instead moving to Colorado and forming Barnstorm with drummer and multi-instrumentalist Joe Vitale and bassist Kenny Passarelli. Walsh and Barnstorm released their debut album, the eponymous 'Barnstorm' in October 1972, which garnered critical praise which unfortunately did not translate into commercial success. The follow-up 'The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get' followed in June 1973, and although officially a Barnstorn album it was marketed under Walsh's name, and was their commercial breakthrough, peaking at No. 6 on the US Billboard chart, and including the classic 'Rocky Mountain Way'. Throughout his busy career Walsh has always been ready to add his prodigious guitar skills to a variety of albums, with soul maestro Jimmy Witherspoon, blues legend B.B. King and folkies Stephen Stills, Dan Fogelberg, and America. He also rocks out with REO Speedwagon and Rick Derringer, as well as re-uniting with his old Barnstorm band-mate Joe Vitale on his 1974 solo album, and playing on Michael Stanley's 'Rosewood Bitters', which he later covered on his own 1985 album 'The Confessor'. This collection takes us up to the point that Walsh joined The Eagles in 1975, as Bernie Leadon's replacement, but despite the extra workload this entailed, he was still able to help out on albums by Keith Moon, Al Kooper, Andy Gibb, and Randy Newman throughout the rest of the 70's.

Track listing

01 Stay With Me Baby (from 'Handbags And Gladrags' by Jimmy Witherspoon 1970)
02 Rosewood Bitters (from 'Michael Stanley' by Michael Stanley 1972)
03 Midnight (from 'L.A. Midnight' by B.B. King 1972)
04 Sweet Maria (from 'She Is A Song' by Rick Roberts 1973)
05 Down The Road (from 'Down the Road' by Stephen Stills / Manassas 1973)
06 Uncomplicated (from 'All American Boy'by Rick Derringer 1973)
07 Green Monkey (from 'Hat Trick' by America 1973)
08 Open Up (from 'Ridin' The Storm Out' by REO Speedwagon 1973)
09 Shoot 'Em Up (from 'Roller Coaster Weekend' by Joe Vitale 1974)
10 Better Change (from 'Souvenirs' by Dan Fogelberg 1974)
11 The Gambler (from 'The Whole Thing Started With Rock & Roll Now It's Out of Control' by

                                                                                                                   Ray Manzarek 1974)
12 You Are So Beautiful (from 'The Kids & Me' by Billy Preston 1974)

Eric Clapton - ...and on guitar (1970)

Throughout the 60's Eric Clapton's reputation as one of the greatest British guitarists grew and grew, as he moved through some of the UK's best bands, from The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, and finally Blind Faith. With a workload like that, and the constant touring that it involved, it's not surprising that he didn't have a lot of spare time to go into the studio and offer his services as a guest guitarist, so it wasn't really until 1968 that he started to appear on records by other artists. His most famous guest appearance was in 1968 on The Beatles' 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', at the request of George Harrison, who asked him to play on it following the two guitarists collaboration on Harrison's Wonderwall Music' album, and that seems to have given him a taste for popping into the studio to help out friends, acquaintances, and artists that he admired. Also in 1968, while Cream were touring the US, Atlantic supremo Ahmet Ertegun asked him if he would play guitar on a record by a fellow Atlantic artist, and so the other guitarists were pulled out of the studio and a nervous Clapton laid down the lead guitar on Aretha Franklin's 'Good To Me As I Am To You'. The Beatles' recording followed later that year, and the Apple Records connection led to him playing on the b-side of Jackie Lomax's 'Sour Milk Sea' single, and also on Billy Preston's 'Do What You Want To' single from the same year (Preston had played on the 'Get Back' sessions, and on John Lennon's 'Cold Turkey' single). He was also one of the many, many guest artists on Martha Velez's 'Fiends & Angels' album, and by 1970 he was in the studio with other artists more than ever, helping out King Curtis, Jonathan Kelly, Shawn Phillips, and Leon Russell. One of my favourite guest appearances of his was on the 'Labio-Dental Fricative' single by Vivian Stanshall, and especially it's b-side 'Paper Round', where his guitar-work really shines. After adding his guitar to songs by Doris Troy and Stephen Stills, we end this album in 1970, after a flurry of guest appearances spanning just a three-year period. Once his solo career started to take off he cut back on the moonlighting, but rest assured that before that happened there are more than enough for a second volume.        

Track listing

01 While My Guitar Gently Weeps (from 'The Beatles' by The Beatles 1968)
02 Good To Me As I Am To You (from 'Lady Soul' by Aretha Franklin' 1968)
03 The Eagle Laughs At You (b-side of 'Sour Milk Sea' single by Jackie Lomax 1968)
04 Do What You Want To (b-side of 'That's The Way God Planned It' by Billy Preston 1969)
05 Cold Turkey (single by John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band 1969)
06 I’m Gonna Leave You (from 'Fiends & Angels' by Martha Velez 1969)
07 Teasin' (single by King Curtis 1970)
08 Don't You Believe It (single by Jonathan Kelly 1970)
09 Man Hole Covered Wagon (from 'Contribution' by Shawn Phillips 1970)
10 Prince Of Peace (from 'Leon Russell' by Leon Russell 1970)
11 Paper Round (b-side of 'Labio-Dental Fricative' single by Vivian Stanshall 1970)
12 Ain't That Cute (single by Doris Troy 1970)
13 Go Back Home (from 'Stephen Stills' by Stephen Stills 1970)

Jeff Beck - ...and on guitar (1977)

Geoffrey Arnold Beck was born on 24 June 1944, and as a teenager he learned to play on a borrowed guitar, while making several attempts to build his own instrument. While still attending Wimbledon College of Art, he was playing in a succession of groups, including Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages during 1962, when they recorded 'Dracula's Daughter'/'Come Back Baby' for Oriole Records. In 1963, after Ian Stewart of The Rolling Stones introduced him to R&B, he formed the Nightshift, with whom he recorded a single, 'Stormy Monday'/'That's My Story', for the Piccadilly label. Other groups followed, including The Rumbles and The Tridents, and he acted as a session guitarist on a 1964 Parlophone single by the Fitz and Startz entitled 'I'm Not Running Away'. In March 1965, Beck was recruited by The Yardbirds to succeed Eric Clapton on the recommendation of fellow session musician (and original choice for the job) Jimmy Page. The Yardbirds recorded most of their Top 40 hits during Beck's short but significant 20-month tenure with the band, but he only appears on one of their albums, the legendary 'Roger The Engineer' in 1966. In June Page joined the Yardbirds, at first on bass and later on second lead guitar, but this dual lead-guitar line-up only lasted a short while, as Beck was fired during a US tour for being a consistent no-show. 
Now at a loose end, he recorded a couple of singles for Mickie Most, and then formed the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart on vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass, Nicky Hopkins on piano and Aynsley Dunbar on drums. The group produced two superb albums for Columbia Records, 'Truth' in 1968, and 'Beck-Ola' the following year, and it was about this time that Beck started to collaborate with oher astists. In May 1969 The Jeff Beck Group recorded some songs with Donovan for his seventh studio album 'Barabajagal', and a slightly retitled 'Goo Goo Barabajagal (Love Is Hot)' / 'Trudi (Bed With Me)' made the UK Top Twenty. Some of the songs recorded at that session were held back, with 'Homesickness' eventually appearing on 1971's 'HMS Donovan', and most of the other tracks being added to the CD re-issue of 'Barabajagal'. Also in 1969, Beck and Stewart were visiting a US recording studio where Frank Zappa's protégés The GTOs were recording an album, and they were persuaded to join in. Beck added some guitar to a couple of tracks, and Stewart also sings on 'Shock Treatment'. 
In 1970 Vanilla Fudge recorded a couple of adverts for Coca Cola, which included Beck on guitar, probably because of his connection with Carmine Appice, who he would later form a group with. A couple of years later Stevie Wonder was recording his 'Talking Book' album, and invited a select group of musicians to help him out, including Ray Parker Jnr., David Sanborn, Buzz Feiten, and Beck. The agreement was that Beck would get involved in the sessions in return for Wonder writing him a song, which turned out to be the classic 'Superstition', which they wrote together. Originally, the plan was for Beck to release his version of the song first, with his newly formed power trio Beck, Bogert & Appice. However, due to the combination of the trio's debut album getting delayed and Motown CEO Berry Gordy's prediction that 'Superstition' would be a huge hit, Wonder released the song as the album's lead single months ahead of Beck's version. Oddly enough, despite Beck co-writing the song, he didn't play on Wonder's version, only appearing on 'Lookin' For Another Pure Love', where you can hear Wonder say 'Do it, Jeff' during the solo. 
Over the next couple of years Beck contributed his guitar to recordings by Pete Brown, prog-rockers Badger (formed by Tony Kaye after he left Yes), US singer/songwriter Michael Fennelly (ex The Millenium and Crabby Appleton), and British/African jazz-fusion band Zzebra. In 1975 he produced the debut album for British jazz-rockers Upp, playing uncredited guitar on it as well, and doing the same production/guitarist job on the follow-up 'This Way Upp' in 1976. That same year he was invited to play on Stanley Clarke's third solo album 'Journey To Love', and Clarke wrote 'Hello Jeff' for him as a showcase. In 1976 Beck played on Billy Preston's self-titled album, although his solo is somewhat diluted as Preston carries on singing over it, but his work on Narada Michael Walden's 'Saint And The Rascal' is just sublime. The album closes with the most obscure track here, where he played guitar on the 1977 album 'Dorian', by Kenneth Dorian Passante, a veteran of the glam-rock scene and pals with Jobriath, and who financed the album himself, roping in Beck along the way. If there's one thing Jeff Beck is known for its spanning the genres, and this album is no exception, so enjoy his pop, rock, prog, soul, jazz-rock, fusion, and glam-rock guest appearances from the early to mid 70's.    

Track listing

01 Homesickness (from 'HMS Donovan' by Donovan recorded 1969, released 1971)
02 Shock Treatment (from 'Permanent Damage' by The GTO's 1969)
03 Coca Cola Commercial (with Vanilla Fudge 1970)
04 Lookin' For Another Pure Love (from 'Talking Book' by Stevie Wonder 1972)
05 Spend My Nights In Armour (from 'Before Singing Lessons' by Pete Brown 1973)
06 Watch Yerself (from 'Lane Changer' by Michael Fennelly 1974)
07 White Lady (from 'White Lady' by Badger 1974)
08 Put A Light On Me (from 'Panic' by Zzebra 1975)
09 Get Down In The Dirt (from 'Upp' by Upp 1975)
10 Hello Jeff (from 'Journey To Love' by Stanley Clarke 1975)
11 Bad Case Of Ego (from 'Billy Preston' by Billy Preston 1976)
12 Saint And The Rascal (from 'Garden Of Love Light' by Narada Michael Walden 1976)
13 Destination Nowhere (from 'Dorian' by Dorian Passante 1977)

George Harrison - ...and on guitar (1975)

By 1969 George Harrison's songwriting had come on in leaps and bounds, culminating in him providing two of the most popular songs on The Beatles' 'Abbey Road' album. That same year he co-wrote 'Badge' with Eric Clapton, which was included on Cream's 'Goodbye' album, and on which Harrison played rhythm guitar, using the pseudonym L'Angelo Misterioso for contractual reasons. In May 1970 he played guitar on several songs during a recording session for Bob Dylan's album 'New Morning', and although none of them made the final cut for the album, some of them have appeared on one of Dylan's 'Bootleg Series' albums, including an alternate take of 'New Morning's 'Time Passes Slowly'. In 1971 he produced and played slide guitar on Badfinger's top ten hit 'Day After Day', and contributed dobro to Billy Preston's 'I Wrote a Simple Song', while in 1972 he added guitar to Harry Nilsson's 'You're Breakin' My Heart'. The following year he appeared on Cheech & Chong's 'Basketball Jones' from their 'Big Bambu' album, and 1973 also saw him add guitar to 'Waiting For The Band' from Nicky Hopkins' 'The Tin Man Was A Dreamer' under the name of George O'Hara, and 'If You've Got Love' from 'It's Like You Never Left' by Dave Mason under another of his pseudonyms, Son Of Harry. Lastly from 1973, Hari Georgeson helped out Alvin Lee & Mylon LeFevre on 'So Sad (No Love Of His Own)' from their 'On The Road To Freedom' album. 1974 was a bit quieter, with Harrison co-writing 'Far East Man' with Ronnie Wood, and both artists recording their own versions of the song, with Wood's coming out first on his 'I've Got My Own Album To Do' release. Also in 1974, two-man band Splinter released their debut, Harrison-produced album 'The Place I Love' on his Dark Horse label. It was actually the first record to be released on the label, and Harrison played guitar and keyboards on it as well, with the record spawning the hit single 'Costafinetown'. In 1975 Harrison expanded his horizons and added guitar to Tom Scott's jazz album 'New York Connection', rounding off nicely his extra-curricular activities from the first half on the 70's. Harrison then took a break while he released solo albums of his own, with his next guest appearances being in 1981 on an album from Mick Fleetwood and a single by Ringo Starr.   

Track listing

01 Badge (single by Cream 1969)

02 Time Passes Slowly (from the 'New Morning' sessions with Bob Dylan 1970)

03 I Wrote A Simple Song (from 'I Wrote A Simple Song' by Billy Preston 1971)

04 Day After Day (single by Badfinger 1971)

05 You're Breaking My Heart (from 'Nilsson Schmilsson' by Harry Nilsson 1972)

06 If You've Got Love (from 'It's Like You Never Left' by Dave Mason  1973) 

07 Waiting For The Band (from 'The Tin Man Was A Dreamer' by Nicky Hopkins 1973)  

08 Basketball Jones (from 'Big Bambu' by Cheech & Chong 1973)

09 So Sad (No Love Of His Own) (from 'On The Road To Freedom' by Alvin Lee 1973)  

10 Far East Man (from 'I've Got My Own Album To Do' by Ronnie Wood 1974)

11 Somebody's City (from 'The Place I Love' by Splinter 1974)

12 Appolonia (from 'New York Connection' by Tom Scott 1975)