1971-1972
I graduated from high school in 1970 and of course began college that same year, enrolling at Ohio University. At that time, OU had a branch in Portsmouth (called "The Twig" - get it?) so I opted to stay in town and go to college. (I transferred to the Athens campus in '71.) I had gotten a brand new Gibson J-45 accoustic 6-string as a graduation present and played it constantly. (I still have the thing - it's one of my most prized possessions.) It was during this period that I really got into writing songs - mostly on accoustic. At that time, accoustic guitar was huge on the radio with acts like America, the Eagles, James Taylor, CSNY and Cat Stevens emerging on the scene. This was a very formative period for me as a writer because I was really into the intimate feel of accoustic songs and the way you could play a song decently with just a simple guitar and your voice. Bands were the last thing on my mind during the first couple of years of the 70's and it probably would have remained that way if it hadn't been for the fateful call from Greg Detosky in '73. But as usual, I'm getting ahead of myself.
By now, all of the individual Beatles had put out albums and I owned them all. I had been particularly blown away with "McCartney" and the way he had recorded that whole album by himself - all the vocals and insruments. Then Todd Rundgren's "Something/Anything" came out and that LP really had an effect on me for the same reason. I was fascinated with the idea of doing everything myself since I wasn't in a band so I managed to con my parents into buying me a Sony TC-353 reel-to-reel for Christmas, 1972. (I have to hand it to my parents - they gave me this gift right after I had informed them that I was dropping out of college!)
At any rate, I spent most of my time from that point on recording and writing songs in my attic "studio." Another event had shaped me musically around this period and that was seeing James Taylor in concert my last quarter in Athens. When I heard him finger pick, I decided then and there that I was going to learn how to do it. When I finally got "Blackbird" down after a million hours of practicing, it really opened the door to a new way of writing my songs. My finger picking isn't great by any stretch, but that style of playing really adds a new dimension when you're basically a rhythm player.
The Sony recorder was a great tool since it had the capability of multitracking through the use of "sound on sound" recording. What this meant was that one could record a track on the left side then add a live track while phasing the original recorded track over to the right side. Then you could take that composite track and add another live track over it by phasing back over to the left track. The problem with this arrangement was the tape hiss that built up with each new added track and the fact that the older tracks eventually got buried in the mix. Overcoming these obstacles was virtually impossible to do so recording had to be limited to no more than 3 or 4 generations. The bottom line though was that at least I had the capabilities of overdubbing my music and vocal tracks and this process was a great learning experience. It was really incredible technology at the time and I fell in love with the whole process. "Who needs a band, anyway?" I would think to myself with smile...
Just for the record, here are some of the songs I wrote back then: "Starlight," which I plan on including on my upcoming CD, "I'll Let You Ride Down This Road With Me" (not too good, not too bad for an amateur), "Little Woman" (too McCartney-ish but a cool arrangement - perhaps a good filler?) and a couple of songs I co-wrote with Roger (he kept sending me poems from college and I'd set them to music): "Hello, Can I Say a Few Things?" and "Well I've Seen What It Comes Down To" (a song we had done in the short-lived Lord Foppington.)
Most of these songs were quite folky and at times Rundgren-ish. Hey, I admit it: we are all products of our greatest influences! Like most art, music is a mirror of what we are all about and I was definitely into the following artists at this time: The Beatles (now and forever), Todd (truly a wizard and a star) and Bread - yes Bread! Most folks won't admit it but I will here and now: Bread was a great band, and "On The Waters" is one of the best albums by an accoustic/pop American band in this reporter's opinion. I still play that album almost as much as I play Abbey Road, and that's saying something! The problem with Bread is that everyone thinks of their sappy love song singles but their album cuts were the best thing about them. James Griffin was sadly overlooked (and perhaps overshadowed by David Gates). So much for Bread...
The next ten years of my life, from 1973 to 1983, were spent almost exclusively in various bands and music per se was the prime driving force for me, for sure...
Songs from 1971-72 (chart positions in Billboard):
1971:
Absolutely Right - Five Man Electrical Band (#26)
Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers (#3)
Albert Flasher - The Guess Who (#29)
All Day Music - War (#35)
All I Ever Need Is You - Sonny & Cher (#7)
Amazing Grace - Judy Collins (#15)
American Pie (Parts 1 & 2) - Don McLean (#1)
An American Trilogy - Mickey Newbury (#26)
An Old Fashioned Love Song - Three Dog Night (#4)
Another Day - Paul McCartney (#5)
Anticipation - Carly Simon (#13)
Ask Me No Questions - B.B. King (#40)
Baby I'm-a Want You - Bread {#3}Country Road - James Taylor (#37)
Cried Like a Baby - Bobby Sherman (#16)
D.O.A. - Bloodrock (#36)
Desiderata - Les Crane (#8)
(Do The) Push and Pull (Part 1) - Rufus Thomas (#25)
Do You Know What I Mean - Lee Michaels (#6)
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - Chicago (#7)
Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted - The Partridge Family (#6)
Don't Change On Me - Ray Charles (#36)
Don't Knock My Love (Part 1) - Wilson Pickett (#13)
Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You - Wilson Pickett (#17)
Don't Pull Your Love - Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds (#4)
(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go - Curtis Mayfield (#29)
Double Barrel - Dave & Ansil Collins (#22)
Double Lovin' - The Osmonds (#14)
Draggin' the Line - Tommy James (#4)IFeel The Earth Move - Carole King (#1)
I Hear You Knockin' - Dave Edmunds (#4)
I Just Want To Celebrate - Rare Earth (#7)
(I Know) I'm Losing You - Rod Stewart with Faces (#24)
I Love You for All Seasons - The Fuzz (#21)
I Play and Sing - Dawn (#25)
I Woke Up in Love This Morning - The Partridge Family (#13)
I'd Like To Teach the World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) - The New Seekers (#7)
I'd Love To Change the World - Ten Years After (#40)If - Bread (#4)
If Not for You - Olivia Newton-John (#25)
If You Really Love Me - Stevie Wonder (#8)
Imagine - John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band (#3)
Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation ) - Raiders
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler) - Marvin Gaye (#9)
It Don't Come Easy - Ringo Starr (#4)
It's Impossible - Perry Como (#10)
It's One of Those Nights (Yes Love) - The Partridge Family (#20)
It's Too Late - Carole King (#1)
Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone - Johnnie Taylor (#28)
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night (#1)Maggie May - Rod Stewart (#1)
Make It Funky (Part 1) - James Brown (#22)
Make Me the Woman That You Go Home To - Gladys Knight & The Pips (#27)
Mama's Pearl - The Jackson 5 (#2)
Maybe Tomorrow - The Jackson 5 (#20)
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin (#1)
Me and Bobby McGee - Jerry Lee Lewis (#40)
Me and My Arrow - Nilsson (#34)
Me And You And A Dog Named Boo - Lobo (#5)1972:
Alone Again (Naturally) - Gilbert O'Sullivan (#1)
Amazing Grace - The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (#11) (instrumental)
American City Suite - Cashman & West (#27)
Angel - Rod Stewart (#40)
Ask Me What You Want - Millie Jackson (#27)
Automatically Sunshine - The Supremes (#37)
Baby Blue - Badfinger (#14)
Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me - Mac Davis (#1)
Baby Let Me Take You (in My Arms) - Detroit Emeralds (#24)
Back Off Boogaloo - Ringo Starr (#9)Easy Livin' - Uriah Heep (#39)
Elected - Alice Cooper (#26)
Every Day of My Life - Bobby Vinton (#24)
Everybody Plays the Fool - The Main Ingredient (#3)
Everything I Own - Bread (#5)
The Family of Man - Three Dog Night (#12)
Feeling Alright - Joe Cocker (#33)
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack (#1)Roundabout - Yes (#13)
Run Run Run - Jo Jo Gunne (#27)
Run To Me - Bee Gees (#16)
Runnin' Away - Sly & The Family Stone (#23)
The Runway - The Grass Roots (#39)
Saturday in the Park - Chicago (#3)
I Need You - America (#9)
I Saw the Light - Todd Rundgren (#16)
I Wanna Be Where You Are - Michael Jackson (#16)
I Wanna Be with You - Raspberries (#16)
Living in the Past - Jethro Tull (#11)
Long Cool Woman (in a Black Dress) - The Hollies (#2)
Long Dark Road - The Hollies (#26)
School's Out - Alice Cooper (#7)
Sitting - Cat Stevens (#16)
Slippin' into Darkness - War (#16)
Small Beginnings - Flash (#29)
Softly Whispering I Love You - The English Congregation (#29)
Someday Never Comes - Creedence Clearwater Revival (#25)
Something's Wrong With Me - Austin Roberts (#12)
Song Sung Blue - Neil Diamond (#1)
Spaceman - Nilsson (#23)
Speak to the Sky - Rick Springfield (#14)
Starting All Over Again - Mel & Tim (#19)
Stay with Me - Faces (#17)
Suavecito - Malo (#18)
Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts (#6)
Sunny Days - Lighthouse (#34)
Sunshine - Jonathan Edwards (#4)
