Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Elton John's 'Tumbleweed Connection' (2002)

As a result of the reasonable success of the 'Elton John' album, John recruited former Spencer Davis Group drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray, and flew to America for his first US concert at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on 25 August 1970. It was a such a success that the next day he received a telegram from Bill Graham, America’s most important promoter, offering him $5,000 to play at the Fillmore East in New York. Two months later, in October 1970, the concept album 'Tumbleweed Connection' was released, reaching number two in the UK and number five in the US. Co-writer Bernie Taupin has confirmed that despite people thinking that he was influenced in his lyrics by Americana and by seeing America first hand, the album had been written and recorded before they'd even been to the United States, and it was more influenced by The Band's album, 'Music From Big Pink', and Robbie Robertson's songs. Basic tracks for three of the album's titles, 'Come Down In Time', 'Country Comfort' and 'Burn Down The Mission', had been recorded at Trident during the sessions for the previous LP, 'Elton John', and Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson appeared for the first time together on this album as the rhythm section on 'Amoreena'. No singles were released from the record in the US, but 'Country Comfort'/'Love Song' (the latter a Lesley Duncan composition) was released as a single in Australia, New Zealand and Brazil. Once again, other artists clamoured to record these songs, and this time the big names included Al Kooper, Rod Stewart, Spooky Tooth and Sergio Mendes and Brasil '77, and new artists were still looking to 'Tumbleweed Connection' for inspiration in the 1980's and 2000's, with this album closing with a rousing version of 'Burn Down The Mission' by Toto from 2002. 

Track listing

01 Ballad Of A Well Known Gun (Kate Taylor 1971)
02 Come Down In Time (Al Kooper 1971)
03 Country Comfort (Rod Stewart 1970)
04 Son Of Your Father (Spooky Tooth 1969)
05 My Father's Gun (Miranda Lambert 2018)
06 Where To Now St. Peter (Sergio Mendes & Brasil '77 1976)
07 Amoreena (Panhandle 1972)
08 Talking Old Soldiers (Michael Callen 1988)
09 Burn Down The Mission (Toto 2002)

Spooky Tooth - The Weight (1969)

Spooky Tooth were one of the best progressive rock bands of he late 60's and early 70's, although they never really had the massive success that they deserved. Most of the band started out in a combo called Art, and when they broke up Spooky Tooth was formed from the ashes. Their line-up was a breeding ground for musicians who went on to greater fame later in their career, with Luther Grosvenor changing his name to Ariel Bender and joining Mott The Hoople, Mike Kellie teaming up with Peter Perrett in The Only Ones, Greg Ridley joining Humble Pie and Mike Harrison and Gary Wright going on to considerable solo success, with Wright having a huge hit with his 'Dream Weaver' single. Their first two albums are classics of the psychedelic rock genre, and as the 70's drew on they became more experimental, culminating in a collaboration with French music concrete artist Pierre Henry on the generally well-received 'Ceremony', before regrouping and turning to a heavier sound as the 70's wore on. During their career they released a number of singles, some of which never featured on their albums, and some also had exclusive b-sides, while they also recorded a number of sessions for the BBC, playing songs that only ever appeared in their live sets. Of those recordings, the take of 'I Can't Quit Her' wasn't taped that well, with a jagged fade in at the beginning and an unconvincing fade at the end, and so in my first attempt at patching I've tried to make a more convincing version of the song. This post collects the best of their hard to find songs into an album which shows just what a great band they were, even from material not considered worthy of inclusion on their album releases.

Track listing

01 Weird (b-side of 'Sunshine Help Me' 1967 - reworking of Art song)
02 The Weight (single 1968)
03 Do Right People (b-side of 'The Weight')
04 Sunshine Help Me (Original version)
05 I Can't Quit Her (BBC 'Top Gear' session 1968)
06 Blues Town (BBC 'Top Gear' session 1968)
07 When I Get Home (Previously unreleased 1968)
08 Something Got Into Your Life (Previously unreleased 1968)
09 Too Much Of Nothing (BBC 'Top Gear' session 1968)
10 Luger's Groove (b-side of 'Love Really Changed Me' 1968)
11 Oh! Pretty Woman (b-side of 'That Was Only Yesterday' 1969)