loveless
god
Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
Posts: 2,789
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Post by loveless on Feb 11, 2024 11:36:04 GMT
Some period context:
Released as a single in 1969, "Spinning Wheel" peaked at No.2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in July of that year, remaining in the runner-up position for three weeks. "Spinning Wheel" was kept out of the No.1 position by both "The Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet" by Henry Mancini and "In the Year 2525" by Zager and Evans.
A period performance -
Performed at Woodstock, and covered by the likes of Sammy Davis Jr., Peggy Lee, Shirley Bassey, Nancy Wilson, Benny Goodman, James Brown, and many more (I'm sure the Muppets do a mean version).
Talk to me.
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Post by osgood on Feb 11, 2024 12:37:03 GMT
Not my fave BS&T song from the Clayton-Thomas period (that would be Lucretia McEvil or Hi-De-Ho, and anyway they were never as good as in the record with Al Kooper) but good enough to qualify as a solid HIT.
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Post by fearlessfreap on Feb 11, 2024 13:17:04 GMT
When I first heard Pearl Jam, my first thought was, “Oh, great, David Clayton Thomas is back.” This album was everywhere when I was a child—not as a teenager, but as a kid. Every home had a copy. Not my friends, though, but their parents — people born in the 1930’s. It was their attempt at being cool, like sideburns and longer hair with “the dry look” hairspray because “ the wet head was dead, “ and sporty denim leisure suits. I don’t know what it was about that album, because the only contemporary companion it was Bridge Over Troubled Water. You certainly didn’t see Lee Zeppelin III or Let It Bleed on top of their Magnavox cabinets. It was the first coffee table rock album. I thought it was a clumsy arrangement with the merry go round part being completely stupid. It wasn’t as stupid as the ho down part of And When I Die , but stupid enough. There was a song that was supposed to sound like BS&T called Vehicle by a band called Ides Of March that I absolutely loved. That was more streamlined and not multi part jerky like Spinning Wheel. Of course like all things back then, I remember it a lot more fondly. I have heard far funkier songs though. In the late 80’s there was a rap act called 3rd Base that was supposed to replace the Beastie Boys on Def Jam when they went to Capitol. They were ok, but could get a bit obsequious in trying to be black. They had a song that sampled Spinning Wheel that was funky as hell—They had Prince Paul doing their production, and he cut a section out of it that really worked well.
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Post by Charlie O. on Feb 11, 2024 13:41:11 GMT
I dig it a lot - merry-go-round ending and all - though I didn't at the time. freap's memory is spot on, and it's true, you couldn't watch a variety show back then without seeing someone gamely bluster their way through this. Everything about it, and the band, seemed to telegraph SQUARENESS.
But I think it's actually a decent song, which makes me wonder why D.C-T. didn't write more of them. And unlike freap, I like the arrangement fine. (The single version substituted a brief, dumb guitar solo for the long trumpet solo. That was clumsy.)
Sadly - and surprisingly - YouTube doesn't have NRBQ's improvised live medley of "Spinning Wheel" and "And When I Die", which you can be sure I would post here otherwise.
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Post by fearlessfreap on Feb 11, 2024 13:57:44 GMT
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Post by davey on Feb 11, 2024 16:48:45 GMT
I’m not sure I can muster a critical appraisal.
I was three years old when it was released. It’s one of the deepest-down-the-memory-hole songs I can recall. Musically and lyrically, it was accessible to my child-brain. It was a nursery rhyme.
Being asked to judge its value is like being asked to give a critical opinion on Hickory, Dickory Dock. Kinda beside the point.
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Post by DarknessFish on Feb 11, 2024 17:10:35 GMT
That's all over the bloody place, isn't it? It starts off all Pearl & Dean, then goes into a fairly objectionable condescending vocal performance. When it picks up, it reminds me of restrained mid-70s Beefheart, especially the vocals. The jazzy mid-section is quite nice. The merry-go-round bit, not so much.
Wouldn't really want to hear it again, but sections were quite pleasant.
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Post by neige on Feb 12, 2024 15:43:03 GMT
HIT, absolutely, at least up to the cheesy merry-go-round recorders in the end.
I owned BST 2 and 3 as a teen, they're ingrained in my DNA. And I never realised their "squareness" at the time.
And it had never occurred to me, but David Clayton-Thomas looks and sounds just like that weirdo from Future Islands
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Sneelock
god
you're gonna break another heart
Posts: 8,535
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Post by Sneelock on Feb 12, 2024 16:44:09 GMT
I swallowed all that horn-happy shit whole - BS&T, Chicago, Ides of March. If it hadn't been for TV Variety shows I wouldn't have been able to tell them apart. you know what? maybe I can't! get my blindfold.
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loveless
god
Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
Posts: 2,789
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Post by loveless on Feb 12, 2024 16:51:40 GMT
The horn rock craze/era!
My personal favorite, for better or worse:
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Sneelock
god
you're gonna break another heart
Posts: 8,535
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Post by Sneelock on Feb 12, 2024 17:00:37 GMT
I would like a horn section to follow me around for the rest of the week.
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Post by fearlessfreap on Feb 12, 2024 17:47:58 GMT
It spread to Canada - DCT was from Canada, so we can blame them for him as well.
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Post by Charlie O. on Feb 12, 2024 18:41:04 GMT
I'm a Buckinghams man, myself. (No, they didn't have an in-house horn section. But "Kind Of A Drag" hitting #1 kicked off this craze if anything did.)
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loveless
god
Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
Posts: 2,789
|
Post by loveless on Feb 12, 2024 18:50:53 GMT
I'm a Buckinghams man, myself. (No, they didn't have an in-house horn section. But "Kind Of A Drag" hitting #1 kicked off this craze if anything did.) Sure, the James William Guercio through line from the 'Hams to Chicago seems like pretty serious "Oh, good - I see you've got horns" momentum. I seem to remember Carlsson bigging up a concern called If, whom I have some (possibly erroneous) memory of as horn rock.
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Post by adamcoan on Feb 12, 2024 18:56:14 GMT
The first two IF albums are fantastic.
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