Jackson Browne - Funny You Should Ask (1967)

On 7 January 1967 Jackson Browne booked some time in the studio to make some demos of his songs for Nina Music, with the label's idea being to showcase his songs to various artists on the Elektra roster. For some reason, Nina Music pressed thirty of Jackson's songs, along with ten of fellow musician Steven Noonan's, onto two LP's, although only about 2/3 of the songs were from the 1967 recording session at Jaycino Studio in New York, with the rest coming from a Columbia session from October of the previous year. One hundred copies of this unorthodox showcase LP, packed in plain white jackets, were distributed around the music community, and for fans of the singer these records, which came to be known collectively as 'The Nina Demos', are a treasure. Comprising virtually every demo-able song in Browne's repertoire at the time, they tell an enlightening tale of an eighteen-year-old doing his conscientious best to pin down his life as well as his art. The songs don't stray too far from Browne's own experience, with a favorite, and convincing, theme being that of the earnest, motivated and optimistic young man on the threshold of discovery and growth. From the 1967 sessions we have 'Holding', where he writes of holding his door open to the wind, while 'Love Me, Lovely' advises his girl in tried-and-true folk-song style to make the most of today with him because tomorrow he's out that door. The eighteen-year-old Browne was not shy about making his points, and the best is yet to come, he informs his going-through-the-motions friend in 'You've Forgotten', while a youthful preachiness pervades 'Someday Morning', and 'Somewhere There's A Feather' reads like a teen Sermon on the Mount with its exhortation to live, learn, and love. In sharp contrast to these songs are 'Melissa' and 'It's Been Raining Here In Long Beach', the fruit of Jackson's brief stint as a ragtime writer. For this second of the two posts I've used the 1967 recordings, with this second post being a bit longer than the 1966 one, so just one extra track, being another co-write with Greg Copeland, later covered to fine effect by Nico on her 'Chelsea Girl' album. As mentioned before, this is mostly just Jackson and his guitar, so will probably appeal more to his committed fanbase rather then the casual listener, but the sound quality is excellent for the year and circumstances of recording, so it's perfect for when you're in the mood for some gentle acoustic singer/songwriting from a budding star in the making.   

Track listing 

01 Holding (Browne) 
02 Somewhere There's A Feather (Browne)  
03 I've Been Out Walking (Browne)  
04 Funny You Should Ask (Browne) 
05 Love Me, Lovely (Browne) 
06 You've Forgotten (Browne) 
07 Someday Morning (Browne) 
08 Cast Off All My Fears (Browne) 
09 In My Time (Browne) 
10 Melissa (Browne) 
11 It's Been Raining Here In Long Beach (Browne) 
12 You'll Get It In The Mail Today (Browne) 
13 Shadow Dream Song (Browne) 
14 The Light From Your Smile (Browne) 
15 The Fairest Of The Seasons (Browne/Copeland)  

Comments on the songs taken from 'The Story Of A Hold Out' by Rich Wiseman; 

Dolphin Books.

Jackson Browne - Sing My Songs To Me (1966)

In October 1966 Jackson Browne booked some time in Columbia studios, and spent two hours recording demos of his songs for Nina Music, with the label's idea being to showcase his songs to various artists on the Elektra roster. For some reason, Nina Music pressed thirty of Jackson's songs, along with ten of fellow musician Steven Noonan's, onto two LP's, although only about a third of the songs were from the 1966 recording session, with the rest being recorded at Jaycino Studio in New York on 7 January 1967. One hundred copies of this unorthodox showcase LP, packed in plain white jackets, were distributed around the music community, and for fans of the singer these records, which came to be known collectively as 'The Nina Demos', are a treasure. Comprising virtually every demo-able song in Browne's repertoire at the time, they tell an enlightening tale of an eighteen-year-old doing his conscientious best to pin down his life as well as his art. The songs don't stray too far from Browne's own experience, with a favorite, and convincing, theme being that of the earnest, motivated and optimistic young man on the threshold of discovery and growth. From the 1966 sessions, we find that water, specifically running water, is a favorite image for more aggressive striving, and in 'We Can Be' he declares himself to be as reckless as a mountain stream, whereas in 'And I See' he juxtaposes his perception of the open door with the river running relentlessly to the ocean. He also affords a lighthearted touch on his mythic tributes to friends and lovers, such as 'The Painter' and 'Marianne', as well as 'Lavender Bassman', written in honor of Jimmy Fielder, another Paradox regular who went on to play with Blood Sweat And Tears. If there is an issue with these demos, it isn't his folk/pop-flavored melodies, which are alternately bright and catchy, and with enough surprises to keep a listener's interest. Rather, the problem is how Browne himself sounds...like a singer in search of a voice. He's mechanically proficient, and knows how to hold his notes, and he seems to have done a noble job of ridding his voice of obvious cops from other singers, but his singing reveals that he hadn't learned a far more important lesson yet...how to feel with his voice. His vocals, dragging and wooden, tend to turn his more plaintive songs into dirges, and to sabotage his upbeat tunes. In short they illustrate why Browne, for all the Nina Demo evidence of his young genius, was signed to a songwriter contract instead of recording contract with Elektra Records in 1967. He wasn't particularly happy with the demo's, as he didn't see the purpose in bunching so many of his songs on long-playing records when artists and producers were typically plugged with only one or two tunes at a time for a given recording project. In fact he was so upset with Nina's decision that he personally hunted out and destroyed nearly half of the copies. I've split the original double album into two posts, one for the 1966 recordings and one for those from 1967, with this first one being a shortish 32 minutes, and so I've fleshed it out with a couple of co-writes, one with Greg Copeland and the other with Pamela Polland. As mentioned before, this is mostly just Jackson and his guitar, so will probably appeal more to his committed fanbase rather then to the casual listener, but the sound quality is excellent for the year and circumstances of recording, so it's perfect for when you're in the mood for some gentle acoustic singer/songwriting from a budding star in the making.   

Track listing 

01 Sing My Songs To Me (Browne)  
02 Lavender Windows (Browne)  
03 The Painter (Browne)  
04 Fourth And Main (Browne)  
05 Bound For Colorado (Browne)  
06 We Can Be (Browne)  
07 And I See (Browne)  
08 Ah, But Sometimes (Browne)  
09 Marianne (Browne)  
10 Tumble Down (Browne)  
11 You Didn't Need A Cloud (Browne)  
12 Lavender Bassman (Browne)  
13 She's A Flying Thing (Browne)  

14 Gotta See A Man About A Daydream (Browne/Copeland)   

15 Time Travel Fantasy (Browne/Polland)  

Comments on the songs taken from 'The Story Of A Hold Out' by Rich Wiseman; 

Dolphin Books.

Lowell George - ...and on guitar (1977)

Lowell Thomas George was born in Hollywood, California, on 13 April 1945, and his first instrument was the harmonica, appearing at the age of six on Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour performing a duet with his older brother, Hampton. As a student at Hollywood High School he took up the flute in the school marching band and orchestra, and had already started to play Hampton's acoustic guitar at age 11, progressing to the electric guitar by his high school years, and later learning to play the saxophone, shakuhachi and sitar. During this period he viewed the teen idol-oriented rock and roll of the era with contempt, instead favoring West Coast jazz and the soul jazz of Les McCann and Mose Allison. Initially funded by the sale of his grandfather's stock, George's first band The Factory formed in 1965 and released at least one single on the Uni Records label, the George co-write 'Smile, Let Your Life Begin'. Members included future Little Feat drummer Richie Hayward (who replaced Dallas Taylor in September 1966), Martin Kibbee (a.k.a. Fred Martin) who would later co-write several Little Feat songs with George, including 'Dixie Chicken' and 'Rock And Roll Doctor', and Warren Klein on guitar, with Frank Zappa producing two tracks for the band which were left unreleased at the time. When The Factory broke up George briefly played in The Standells, before joining Zappa's Mothers Of Invention as rhythm guitarist and nominal lead vocalist, playing on 'Weasels Ripped My Flesh' and 'Burnt Weeny Sandwich', and during this period he absorbed Zappa's autocratic leadership style and avant garde-influenced compositional methods. In 1969 he earned his first co-production credit on The GTO's 'Permanent Damage' album, and later that year he left The Mothers Of Invention under nebulous circumstances, enticing fellow musicians Roy Estrada (bass), Bill Payne (keyboards), and Richie Hayward (drums) to jump ship with him and form a new band that he named Little Feat. George mostly played lead guitar, but focused on slide guitar, although he had to get Ry Cooder to play the slide on 'Willin'' on their debut album after George badly injured his hand while working on a powered model airplane. Neither 'Little Feat' nor it's follow-up 'Sailin' Shoes' were commercially successful, leading to Estrada leaving the band in 1972 to join Captain Beefheart's Magic Band, and he was replaced on bass by Kenny Gradney. 

In addition, the band expanded to a sextet by adding Paul Barrere as second guitarist, thus cementing the classic line-up that took on a New Orleans funk direction with their next album, 1973's 'Dixie Chicken'. While recording and releasing this now-classic trio of albums, George was in demand as a session slide guitar player, adding his distinctive licks to albums from artists such as Nilsson, Carly Simon, Barbara Keith, Van Dyke Parks, and John Cale. Further Little Feat albums followed in the mid 70's including 'Feats Don't Fail Me Now' in 1974 and 'The Last Record Album' in 1975, and 1976 was a particularly busy year for George's session work, appearing on albums by John David Souther, Jackson Browne, and Kate and Anna McGarrigle, among others. In 1978 the band recorded their best-selling album, the live 'Waiting For Columbus', but tensions within the group, especially between George, Payne, and Barrere led to the latter pair's departure in 1979, leading to the break-up of Little Feat after the release of their 'Down On The Farm' album. George released his only solo album 'Thanks, I'll Eat It Here' in 1979, and carried on with his session work, but the early 70's were busiest for him, with enough guest appearances between 1970 and 1977 alone to fill three discs in this series. George led an overindulgent lifestyle of binge eating, alcoholism and drug-taking, becoming morbidly obese in the last years of his life, and on 29 June 1979 he collapsed and died of a heart attack, brought on by an accidental cocaine overdose, in his Arlington, Virginia, hotel room. He was just 34, but in his unjustly short life he produced some of the best US rock music ever made, with Little Feat gaining more appreciation after his death than they ever did before it, and his many contributions to records by his fellow musicians stand as a testament to his skill on his beloved slide guitar.   

Track listing

Disc One
01 Do Me In Once And I'll Be Sad, Do Me In Twice And I'll Know Better (Circular Circulation)

                                                                        (from 'Permanent Damage' by The GTO's 1969)
02 Dream Goin' By (from 'Moments' by Judy Mayhan 1970)
03 Memo From Turner (from the soundtrack from the film 'Performance' 1970)
04 Grand Illusion (from 'The Ice Cream Man' by Ivan Ulz 1970)
05 Sylvie (unreleased track from Country 1970)
06 Somebody's Gone (from 'No Apologies' by Nolan Porter 1971)
07 Detroit Or Buffalo (from 'Barbara Keith' by Barbara Keith 1972)
08 FDR In Trinidad (from 'Discover America' by Van Dyke Parks 1972)
09 Take 54 (from 'Son Of Schmilsson' by Nilsson 1972)
10 Waited So Long (from 'No Secrets' by Carly Simon 1972)
11 San Francisco Song (from 'Tret Fure' by Tret Fure 1973)
12 Macbeth (from 'Paris 1919' by John Cale 1973)

Disc Two
01 Gengis (from 'The Master' by Chico Hamilton' 1973)
02 I Feel The Same (from 'Takin' My Time' by Bonnie Raitt 1973)
03 Sayonara America Sayonara Nippon (from 'Happy End' by Happy End 1973)
04 Cannibal Forest (from 'Amazing' by Kathy Dalton 1973)
05 Everybody Slides (from 'Blues & Bluegrass' by Mike Auldridge 1974)
06 Let's Burn Down The Cornfield (from 'Come A Little Closer' by Etta James 1974)
07 Face Of Appalachia (from 'Tarzana Kid' by John Sebastian 1974)
08 Gringo En Mixico (from 'Waitress In A Donut Shop' by Maria Muldaur 1974)
09 Monkey Grip Glue (from 'Monkey Grip' by Bill Wyman 1974)
10 Just Kissed My Baby (from 'Rejuvenation' by The Meters 1974)

Disc Three
01 How Much Fun (from 'Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley' by Robert Palmer 1974)
02 Angry Blues (from 'Gorilla' by James Taylor 1975)
03 Roll Um Easy (from 'Prisoner In Disguise' by Linda Ronstadt 1975)
04 May You Never (from 'Not A Little Girl Anymore' by Linda Lewis 1975)
05 Midnight Prowl (from 'Black Rose' by John David Souther 1976)
06 Travelling On For Jesus (from 'Kate & Anna McGarrigle' by Kate & Anna McGarrigle 1976)
07 Denwasen (from 'Japanese Girl' by Akiko Yano 1976)
08 Your Bright Baby Blues (from 'The Pretender' by Jackson Browne 1976)
09 Catfish (from 'Lasso From El Paso' by Kinky Friedman 1976)
10 If I Lose (from 'Sandman' by Herb Pedersen 1977)
11 Dance To The Radio (from 'El Mirage' by Jimmy Webb 1977)

Many thanks to Bonita for suggesting George as a candidate for the series, as I wouldn't have thought that he'd played on many songs from other artists, but this has turned out to be a superb three disc set of his extra-curricular work.  

Jackson Browne - The Birds Of St. Marks (1970)

In late 1969 Jackson Browne signed a contact with Hollywood music pubishers Criteriom Music, and was employed to write songs to be hawked around the circuit in the hope of being picked up by record companies for their artists. On 6th April 1970 he recorded nearly two dozen solo demos of songs that he'd written, some of which were later reworked for his first album on Asylum Records. It was in fact the demo of 'Jamaica Say You Will' which secured his record deal after he sent a copy of it to label owner David Geffen, who was so taken with the song that he signed Browne to his label in late 1970, and his debut album was released in 1971. The original bootleg of this album included demo versions of many songs that would later appear on the 1971 record, but to make it a more manageable 40-minute album I've just picked the songs which didn't make it, with the addition of demos of just a couple of his most famous songs from the album, with 'Jamaica Say You Will' as it was the track that first attracted Geffen, and 'Doctor My Eyes', because The Jackson Five did pick up on it and had a UK top 10 hit with it, but as that was in 1972 it's more likely that they heard the song from Browne's album rather than the demo. These recordings are superb quality for their age, and Browne sounds relaxed and confident in his delivery, making this is a real treat for all his fans.

     

Track listing

01 Last Time I Was Home
02 Low Road
03 Door Into The Morning
04 Another Place
05 Doctor My Eyes
06 The Birds Of St. Marks
07 Mae Jean Goes To Hollywood
08 Gone To Sorrow
09 Hot Like Today
10 Jamaica Say You Will
11 The Top
12 The Times You've Come
13 There Came A Question

Jesse Ed Davis - ...and on guitar (1975)

Jesse Edwin Davis was born on 21 September 1944 in Norman, Oklahoma. His parents were both Native Americans, with his father, Jesse Ed Davis II, being Comanche, and his mother's side was Kiowa. His father was an accomplished painter in the "flat-style" tradition of Southern Plains painting, with his works being exhibited in the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Davis began his musical career in the late 50's in Oklahoma City and surrounding areas, with John Ware (later a drummer for Emmylou Harris), John Selk (later a bass player for Donovan), Jerry Fisher (later a vocalist with Blood, Sweat & Tears), Mike Boyle, Chris Frederickson, and drummer Bill Maxwell, amongst others. He graduated from the University Of Oklahoma with a degree in English Literature, but by the mid-60's he was touring with Conway Twitty. He eventually moved to California, living there for 8 years, and through his friendship with Levon Helm, he met Leon Russell, who introduced him to paying session work. As well as playing on sessions, he also joined Taj Mahal's band, playing guitar and piano on Mahal's first three albums. After Mahal's 1969 album 'Giant Step', Davis concentrated on the session work for artists such as Roger Tillison and Leon Russell's band The Asylum Choir, and in 1971 he recorded his first solo album after Atco Records signed a contract with him to record two records with the label. The first was '¡Jesse Davis!', where he called in favours from Gram Parsons, Leon Russell and Eric Clapton to contribute to the recording. He was also close friends with Gene Clark, and in 1971 he played on and produced Clark's second solo album 'White Light', as well as guesting with Russell on Bob Dylan's 1971 single 'Watching The River Flow'. This led to him working with George Harrison, performing at the ex-Beatle's 1971 Concert For Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden, along with Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Leon Russell, Jim Keltner, Eric Clapton and many others. 

Two more solo albums followed, with 'Ululu' coming out in 1972 and 'Keep Me Comin'' in 1973, but he still slotted in the odd sessions here and there, culminating in him playing lead guitar on John Lennon's 'Walls And Bridges' and 'Rock 'n' Roll' albums, and almost completing the full set, he also played on Harrison's 'Extra Texture' and Starr's 'Goodnight Vienna'. In late 1975 he performed with the Faces as second guitarist throughout their final US tour, unfortunately becoming addicted to drugs during this time, and after the tour he continued to work as a session player on albums by Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Keith Moon, Steve Miller, Guthrie Thomas, Harry Nilsson, Ry Cooder, Neil Diamond, Rick Danko, Van Dyke Parks, Cher, and many others. In 1977 he moved to Hawaii, but was back in Los Angeles by 1981, broke and ravaged by drug and alcohol addiction, and was in and out of clinics throughout much of the 80's dealing with his addictions. In the ten years he was with Patti Daley, they never married, but after they split up he married twice, and in 1985, with his second wife, he formed and played in The Graffiti Band, which coupled his music with the poetry of the Native American activist John Trudell. In June 1988 he collapsed in the laundry room of an apartment building following a suspected drugs overdose, and died shortly afterwards. He was 43 years old. In his short life he made his mark on the music of many of his peers, with his contributions on Marc Benno's album in particular being outstanding. This two-disc set is just a brief example of his work, as he also played with many blues legends, such as B.B. King, Albert Collins, John Lee Hooker, and Albert King, but I've omitted those as they were all legendary blues guitarists in their own right, and so Davis would only be heard as a backing musician, whereas I wanted to showcase his own exemplary playing on these other recordings from the 70's, when he was at the peak of his powers. 

Track listing

Disc One
01 Funny Honey  (from 'Booker T. & Priscilla' by Booker T. & Priscilla 1971)
02 Poor Girl (from' Feel Your Groove' by Ben Sidran 1971)
03 Sweet Home Chicago (from 'Asylum Choir II' by Asylum Choir 1971)
04 Baby I Love You (from 'Minnows' by Marc Benno 1971)
05 Let 'Em Roll Johnny (from 'Roger Tillison's Album' by Roger Tillison 1971)
06 Rusty Toy (from 'Warm Waters' by Charles Lloyd 1971) 
07 Rollin' Mill Man (from 'She Used To Wanna Be A Ballerina' by Buffy Saint-Marie 1971)
08 Watching the River Flow (single by Bob Dylan 1971)
09 One In A Hundred (from 'White Light' by Gene Clark 1971)
10 Reno Street Incident (from 'Out The Window' by Jim Pulte 1972)
11 Heal Your Heart (from 'Recall the Beginning ... ' by Steve Miller Band 1972) 

Disc Two
01 Doctor My Eyes (from 'Jackson Browne' by Jackson Browne  1972)
02 Crossroads Of The World (from 'Rod Taylor' by Rod Taylor 1973)
03 Gypsy Davy (from 'Last Of The Brooklyn Cowboys' by Arlo Guthrie 1973)
04 Black Magic Gun (from 'Home At Last' by Wayne Berry 1974) 
05 Fair Play (from 'ST-11261' by Brewer & Shipley 1974) 
06 Grinning In Your Face (from 'That's A Plenty' by The Pointer Sisters 1974)
07 Subterranean Homesick Blues (from 'Pussy Cats' by Harry Nilsson 1974)
08 Open Up The Watergate (from 'L.A. Turnaround' by Bert Jansch 1974) 
09 Whatever Gets You Thru the Night (from 'Walls And Bridges' by John Lennon 1974) 
10 Only You (And You Alone) (from 'Goodnight Vienna' by Ringo Starr 1974) 
11 (What A) Wonderful World (from 'Midnight On The Water' by David Bromberg Band 1975) 
12 The Hits Just Keep On Coming (from 'Burnin' Thing' by Mac Davis 1975)

Suggested by Maybe The Devil, Maybe The Lord

For MAC users

Press command+shift+period (to show hidden files) and a grayed out folder '...and on guitar" will appear and the mp3s will be inside. Either drag those to another folder OR rename the folder without any periods at the beginning. Press command+shift+period to once again hide the hidden files.