Categorized | Pop Academy, The Guru Zone

POP ACADEMY 1 – A Jangly History – Part Three

Posted on 25 October 2011

JANGLY MUSIC PRIMER – THE 1970S

By Eric Sorensen

BACKGROUND: For this installment of the Jangly Music Primer, I’ll discuss artists/songs from the 70s. If the list of featured artists and songs appears to be abbreviated, that’s because popular music was going in a number of directions during the 70s … and the clean, crisp sound of a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar was not guiding music in any of those directions. A lot of the Ricky 12-string guitars used by garage bands in the 60s probably found their way into used guitar stores and pawn shops in the 70s. As noted in my previous feature, this list is hardly comprehensive, but it provides Pop Geek Heaven website readers with a good launching point for those of you who are similarly inclined to crank up the treble setting on their stereos and listen to those Rickenbacker 12-string guitars jangle, chime and ring!

NOTE: It is not my intent to fully document the discography of each of the artists mentioned below. Songs and albums cited are those that I believe are most representative of the jangly and/or Byrdsian sound.

The Seventies:

Roger McGuinn -It goes without saying that every time Roger McGuinn records or performs with his Rickenbacker 12-string guitar, his material is going to remind listeners of the Byrds. In 1970, McGuinn and the dramatically changed lineup of the Byrds released the Untitled album that included a song with the “signature” Byrds sound -“Chestnut Mare.” McGuinn actually wrote the melody during a tour of South America in the early 60s, and tucked it away for later use. In 1973, McGuinn and the four other original members released a hastily-recorded and ill-advised Byrds reunion album. Each member had competing solo and band projects and it was evident in the recordings, so the album failed to make much of a dent outside of diehard Byrds fans.

In 1975, McGuinn released a solo album (Roger McGuinn & His Band) with the only studio version of a Dylan tune that he frequently includes in his set list -“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” One of the nicest bootleg versions of this song appears on the bootleg disc The Byrds: Live At The Boarding House. That disc, recorded live in San Francisco in February 1978, features the soundboard recording of a McGuinn, Clark & Hillman concert that included a guest appearance by David Crosby. The four original members sound terrific on the live version of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” McGuinn’s 1976 solo LP, Cardiff Rose, featured his cover of Tom Petty’s “American Girl.” This marked the beginning of a “mutual admiration” between the two artists, who have occasionally collaborated with one another.

Gene Clark -Clark was the first of the original members to fly solo. He is now posthumously regarded as the finest songwriter in the original band. Clark’s solo albums never achieved much commercial success, but individual songs periodically reprised the great sound of the Byrds. “She’s The Kind Of Girl” and “One In A Hundred,” released on the Roadmaster album in 1972, featured studio appearances by McGuinn, Hillman, Crosby and drummer Michael Clarke. “Full Circle” was another Byrdsian tune from this album, and a different version was recorded for The Byrds reunion album (cited above).

McGuinn, Clark & Hillman -This trio recorded two albums –McGuinn, Clark & Hillman (1979) and City (1980). Several songs flirted with a Byrdsian sound (Clark’s “Won’t Let You Down” was eerily reminiscent of his “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better”), but most of the material meekly attempted to match what was commercially popular at the time. When the trio (sometimes a duo) toured, audiences always saved their loudest applause for reprises of the Byrds’ greatest hits.

Tom Petty -“Listen To Her Heart” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was only the first of many Petty songs to be mistaken as a Byrds song (on the band’s 1978 You’re Gonna Get It album). Purchase the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits disc (on MCA) so that you can relish many of his other jangly Rickenbacker tunes. Check out Petty’s original version of “American Girl” and then check out the live version of “So You Want To Be A Rock’n’Roll Star” from the mid-80s album, Pack Up The Plantation: Live! When Petty released his first album without the Heartbreakers, 1989’s Full Moon Fever, the disc included a solid cover version of the Byrds’ “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.” Gene Clark received a six-figure royalty check from the commercial success of Petty’s album. Fast forward to the early 90s and score a video version of Roger McGuinn’s “King Of The Hill” -which features McGuinn and Petty both playing Rickenbacker 12-string guitars and trading lead vocals. Rickenbacker has released a limited edition Tom Petty signature 12-string guitar, but Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell is often the guy playing those lead 12-string riffs on Petty’s songs.

The Searchers -Although I mentioned the Searchers among the artists of the Sixties, they bear mention again. I saw the Searchers in 1987 as part of a “British Invasion” reunion tour. Midway through their set, Mike Pender strapped on a 12-string guitar, told the audience “We’re going to play some 12-string songs now” and the band proceeded to deliver the goods with a succession of songs that began with “Hearts In Her Eyes.” Within a week, I tracked down the vinyl album that this song first appeared on, The Searchers (1979) … and I vaguely remembered that “Hearts In Her Eyes” got some limited airplay on a Seattle rock station when I lived in that area. Although I now have several other versions of this John Wicks/Records classic, I still believe that the Searchers version is the best. Seek out Raven Records’ 23-song The Searchers: The Sire Sessions. “Hearts In Her Eyes,” “Love’s Melody,” “Everything But A Heartbeat” and “September Gurls” will convince you that the Searchers and Byrds influenced one another for quite some time. During a 1998 Searchers reunion tour, the band even covered the great Byrds/Gene Clark tune “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better.”  NOTE: This song title comes up often because it is my favorite Byrds song.  I now have over 60 different versions of this song in my music collection.  These varied cover songs will be the subject for a future column or feature.

The Records -John Wicks and Will Birch combined with two other bandmates to crank out some of the best Byrdsian/jangly tunes of the late 70s. In addition to “Hearts In Her Eyes,” the Records gave the world another jangly classic in “Starry Eyes.” Wicks (now a Los Angeles area musician) continues to compose, record and perform jangly music. Acquire a copy of the Records’ Smashes, Crashes and Near Misses disc (on Virgin) and enjoy the other power pop tunes that the Records recorded.

Starry Eyed & Laughing -Tony Poole and his pub-rock bandmates hardly made a dent in the pop music charts in the mid-70s, but their abiding love of Byrds music has survived to the present. A two-CD compilation of the band’s work, entitled That Was Now And This Is Then, has been released by Aurora Music. The band took its name from a verse in the Dylan tune “Chimes Of Freedom,” and the compilation includes the band’s superb version of this song. You can hear the Rickenbacker 12-string guitar’s compressor sustain cleanly on the lead-in and fade-out to the song, and the group’s chorus harmony is outstanding. One of my other favorite Byrdsian tunes in the two-disc set is “One Foot In The Boat.”

Paul Thornton & Les Fradkin (AKA The Godz) -Like their British counterparts (Starry Eyed & Laughing), the Godz were one of the few bands in the 70s to emulate and perpetuate the sound of the Byrds. They even opened for Roger McGuinn a couple of times. A terrific anthology of their material, Godzology, was released by Renaissance Records. Check out “I Know You Rider” and “A Hard Rain’s­ A-Gonna Fall.”  Les Fradkin’s name will come up again when the music of 2000-2009 is discussed; Les is a prolific musician who employs a chiming Rickenbacker 12-string in many of the songs he has recorded during the past decade.

Electric Range -This country-rock band originally formed in the 70s and they were ready to release a full-length album in 1975 … but the album never saw daylight until over twenty years later, when the original lineup reunited, re-mastered the material and released it as a self-titled album on Smokehouse Records. “We Came For Love” (a Gene Clark composition) features a Rickenbacker 12-string and some terrific Byrdsian harmonies. This one song is worth the price of admission, but the rest of the album has stood the test of time nicely.

The Sorrows -“Can’t Go Back.” There’s an interesting history to how I learned about this song. I borrowed a cassette from a neighbor who is a fellow pop music enthusiast. He used to tape songs from a local radio station – often without knowing what artists performed the songs featured on the tape. Such was the case when I first heard this terrific jangly tune in 1994. I asked pop expert Jordan Oakes (seek out any of his Yellow Pills compilation discs for examples of primo pseudo-60s pop), and Jordan told me that the group in question was the Sorrows. The song first appeared on the band’s 1980 album, Teenage Heartbreak (Pavillion label). I eventually tracked down a CDR compilation of the band’s two albums … and Bomp! Records released a commercial CD of Sorrows material in 2010 – entitled Bad Times Good Times.

 

In the “it’s a small world” category, I later learned (1) that one of the Sorrows’ members was the younger brother of Nancy Leigh -the wife and accompanist of the talented indie pop artist Richard X. Heyman, who often records and performs with one of his vintage Rickenbacker guitars. I also learned (2) that Richard was once in a band called the Rage – with Tommy Keene.  Both Heyman and Keene went on to emerge in the 80s as power pop and jangle-pop stalwarts.

The Flamin’ Groovies -Okay, so this San Francisco band originated in the mid­-60s. It reached its commercial zenith in the 70s -particularly with the often-covered power pop classic tune “Shake Some Action,” which was released in 1976. Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson co-wrote many of the pseudo-60s tunes that this group is now know for. There are a number of Flamin’ Groovies compilation discs, but my personal favorite is the Japanese import Sixteen Tunes -which includes “I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better,” “And Your Bird Can Sing” and “She Don’t Care About Time.” Other Flamin’ Groovies’ “nuggets” include “You Tore Me Down” and “First Plane Home.” The band’s frequent use of a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar and their penchant for 60s melodies made it easy for music fans to associate them with the Byrds.

Dwight Twilley – No discussion of the 70s would be complete without including veteran power pop artist Dwight Twilley.   Twilley’s career has now spanned almost forty years, and he continues to release new material as well as vintage tracks.  Seek out the Dwight Twilley Band’s The Great Lost Twilley Album to get a taste of his catchy power pop.  Although he is best remembered for chart hits like “I’m On Fire” and “Girls,” his finest jangly track – “That Thing You Do” – appears on XXI (released in 1996 on The Right Stuff label).  Twilley penned the song for the Tom Hanks-produced movie of the same name.  Tulsa listeners deemed his original song superior to the track (performed by the fictitious band the Wonders) written for the movie.  I happen to agree.

 

In a few weeks, I will similarly list the artists in the 80s (REM, Jimmy Silva), 90s (Different Faces, The Lears) and the current millennium (Rhinos, GAT, Starbyrd) who have perpetuated the Byrdsian sound. In addition, I will cull through the 70+ Byrdsian volumes that my fellow jangleholic Ray Verno has compiled in the past decade. Jangle on!

4 Responses to “POP ACADEMY 1 – A Jangly History – Part Three”

  1. Roger Worton says:

    Hey
    When it comes to ‘I’ll Feel A Whole Lot Better’ its the the so-cool ‘probably’ that makes the difference. so my 27 year old daughter says. Who am I to disagree as she has then moved onto loving the jangle and the harmonies of the Byrds!!!

    In a contemporary context where do go with the jangle combined with the harmonies? Can’t wait until your 2010’s analysis…

    Roger

  2. Tim Elliott says:

    How do you classify bands such as Badfinger, Cheap Trick, Raspberries, and the Knack

    • dudeman says:

      Not sure what others think – I’m not a big classification kind off guy. I just…..enjoy the music and don’t get too worked up about tags. That said, most music fans tend to – and most would classify these bands under the macro-application of ‘power pop’ – and, honestly, it’s hard to disagree w/ that. There was not ‘power pop’ tag when Badfinger was at their height – the term was not really used…calling them ‘power pop’, does feel a bit like calling The Beatles the same – and that’s just not….well, right or accurate, is it?

  3. The Raves says:

    Along with a small handful of groups in the Southeast USA (Big Star, The Scruffs, Revolver, etc.) my group, Nod (later to become the Raves), was making what would later be called original powerpop music in the vein of Badfinger, the Raspberries, 10cc, SuperTramp, etc. There are audio and video samples available for a lot of these undiscovered groups out there…. explore.