Unlike today, popular music from a half century ago was bursting at the seams in a plethora of directions, and it all was, well, POPULAR. Artists wrote their own material, were influenced by all types of styles and forged ahead into worlds unknown, looking for creativity as well as a buck here and there.
Here are some releases by artists that defined and reflected the times, with music that still speaks today.
Robert Gordon was a singer that came to the fore during the time of punk and new wave during the late 70s and was usually associated with it. Truth was, he just wanted to sing good old rock and roll, but it appealed to the people with spiked hair and faces. He linked up with legendary guitarist Link Wray and put out an exciting debut album, with this collection of recorded gigs from January of 1978 including Anton Fig/dr and Jon Paris/b sweating out pieces like the second coming of Elvis. Wray sears through his big h it “Rumble”, while the band is in rockabilly heaven on “Ted Hot”, “Baby Let’s Play House” and “I Got A Woman”. Visions of Eddie Cochran or Carl Perkins are conjured up n “Twenty Flight Rock”, “Summertime Blues” and “Bopping the Blues” with Gordon in rich form. Red Hot, indeed!
The Man Band was a kind of Welsh version of The Grateful Dead, big on jams as well as catchy tunes. The lineup was always fairly fluid, but usually centered around guitarist/vocalist Mickyh Jones and Deke Leonard who wrote a good amount of the material. Rounding out the lineup for the April 17, 1975 gig in Cologne Germany was Martin Ace/b-voc and Terry Williams/drd/voc at their highpoint of their career, just following two of their best albums Slow Motion and Back Into The Future. You get some quirky things like “7171-551” and “C’mon” that set the tone for jam bands like Medeski, Martin and Wood, while “Hard Way To Die” is a classic bar band special with great harmonies, and “Hard Way To Live” is a fun filled rocker. Boogie-ing till you puke
Ian Hunter was the leader of the glitter rock group Mott The Hoople, mixing Dylanesque lyrics to blue collar chords. This album finds him still alive and well in 2004 at The Astoria in London, reunited with Hoople-mat Mick Ralphs/g along with Andy Yourk/g, Ian Gibbons/key, Steve Holley/dr and Gus Goad/b for a revisit of some vintage Mott oldies like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Queen” and classic hits “All The Way From Memphis” and the anthem “All The Young Dudes”. Hunter’s solo career shows he didn’t miss a step after leaving the band with “Once Bitten Twice Shy” and “The Truth, The Whole Truth” and Nothing But The Truth” with some incredible lyrics throughout, as on “I Wish I Was Your Mother” and “Rest In Peace”. Reflective rocker.